Functional and Clinical Significance of Dysregulated microRNAs in Liver Cancer - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

Functional and Clinical Significance of Dysregulated microRNAs in Liver Cancer

Po-Shuan Huang et al. Cancers (Basel). 2021.

Abstract

Liver cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. This mainly reflects the lack of early diagnosis tools and effective treatment methods. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-transcribed RNAs, some of which play important regulatory roles in liver cancer. Here, we discuss microRNAs with key impacts on liver cancer, such as miR-122, miR-21, miR-214, and miR-199. These microRNAs participate in various physiological regulatory pathways of liver cancer cells, and their modulation can have non-negligible effects in the treatment of liver cancer. We discuss whether these microRNAs can be used for better clinical diagnosis and/or drug development. With the advent of novel technologies, fast, inexpensive, and non-invasive RNA-based biomarker research has become a new mainstream approach. However, the clinical application of microRNA-based markers has been limited by the high sequence similarity among them and the potential for off-target problems. Therefore, researchers particularly value microRNAs that are specific to or have special functions in liver cancer. These include miR-122, which is specifically expressed in the liver, and miR-34, which is necessary for the replication of the hepatitis C virus in liver cancer. Clinical treatment drugs have been developed based on miR-34 and miR-122 (MRX34 and Miravirsen, respectively), but their side effects have not yet been overcome. Future research is needed to address these weaknesses and establish a feasible microRNA-based treatment strategy for liver cancer.

Keywords: clinical; liver cancer; microRNA.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

The biosynthesis and action mechanisms of microRNA.

Figure 2

Figure 2

Mechanisms of action of the microRNAs involved in drug resistance of HCC cells.

Figure 3

Figure 3

Typical techniques for detecting miRNAs.

Figure 4

Figure 4

Advantages of RNA as biomarkers in clinical testing.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Fornari F., Gramantieri L., Callegari E., Shankaraiah R.C., Piscaglia F., Negrini M., Giovannini C. MicroRNAs in Animal Models of HCC. Cancers. 2019;11:1961. doi: 10.3390/cancers11121906. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ghouri Y.A., Mian I., Rowe J.H. Review of hepatocellular carcinoma: Epidemiology, etiology, and carcinogenesis. J. Carcinog. 2017;16:1. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schwabe R.F., Greten T.F. Gut microbiome in HCC—Mechanisms, diagnosis and therapy. J. Hepatol. 2020;72:230–238. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2019.08.016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yang J.D., Hainaut P., Gores G.J., Amadou A., Plymoth A., Roberts L.R. A global view of hepatocellular carcinoma: Trends, risk, prevention and management. Nat. Reviews Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2019;16:589–604. doi: 10.1038/s41575-019-0186-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jiang Y., Han Q., Zhao H., Zhang J. The Mechanisms of HBV-Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J. Hepatocell. Carcinoma. 2021;8:435–450. doi: 10.2147/JHC.S307962. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources