miR-144在宫颈癌中的研究进展

Research Progress of MiR-144 in Cervical Cancer

全球范围内,宫颈癌的发病率和死亡率在女性恶性肿瘤中均居于第4位,严重威胁女性的健康,因此早期诊断治疗非常重要。微小RNA(microRNA,miRNA)是一类长度约21~25个核苷酸的非编码内源性小分子RNA,目前大量研究显示miRNA在人体内多种调控途径中具有重要的作用,包括控制细胞的分化、凋亡、增殖以及肿瘤的发生发展,其主要通过与靶mRNA的3′非翻译区(3′-UTR)的碱基结合,从而在转录后水平调控基因的表达发挥其生物学功能。因此,miRNA成为当下肿瘤研究的新热点。目前已有多项研究发现miR-144在许多恶性肿瘤中异常表达,同时也发挥着重要作用。在宫颈癌中,miR-144表达下调,并促进宫颈癌的发生发展,有望成为宫颈癌早期诊断的生物标志物;同时有研究证实miR-144参与调控宫颈癌对放化疗的敏感性,有望成为宫颈癌潜在的治疗靶点。对miR-144的生物学功能及其在宫颈癌中的作用和分子机制作一综述。

Globally,the morbidity and mortality of cervical cancer are ranked fourth among female malignancies,seriously threatening women′s health,so early diagnosis and treatment are very important.MicroRNAs(miRNAs)are a class of non coding endogenous small RNAs about 21-25 nucleotides in length,and a large number of studies have now revealed that miRNAs have important roles in multiple regulatory pathways in the human body,including the control of cell differentiation,apoptosis,proliferation as well as tumor development.It exerts its biological functions mainly through base binding to the 3′-untranslated region(3′-UTR)of target mRNAs,thereby regulating the expression of genes at the post transcriptional level.Therefore,miRNAs become a new hotspot in tumor research at the moment.At present,several studies have found that miR-144 is aberrantly expressed in many malignancies and plays an important role as well.In cervical cancer,miR-144 expression is downregulated,and it promotes the occurrence and development of cervical cancer,which is expected to be a biomarker for the early diagnosis of cervical cancer;meanwhile,studies have confirmed that miR-144 is involved in regulating the sensitivity of cervical cancer to chemoradiotherapy,which is expected to be a potential therapeutic target for cervical cancer.In this review,we summarize the biological functions of miR-144 and its roles and molecular mechanisms in cervical cancer.