Micro RNAs: future cancer diagnostic tools and the role of let-7 family on suppression of oncogenes.

Micro RNAs are small RNAs of approximately 19-23 base pairs length or shorter which are produced in all mammalian cells. Micro RNA binds to the complementary mRNA to silence or degrade the activity of target mRNA. A number of studies on human cancers indicate the aberrant behaviour of micro RNA. Recently, research has turned to the evaluation of let-7 mi-RNA as possible biomarkers due to their role in biological processes. One such experiment by Kumar et al. showed the functional inhibition of RAS family and HMGA-2 protein in murine models of lung cancer. The intranasal administration of let-7 mi-RNA into orthotopic mouse and subsequent suppression of tumor (lung adenocarcinoma) cells was termed as a breakthrough in cancer biology and epigenetics.

Microarrays combined with q RT-PCR validation are becoming valuable tools for mi-RNA expression profiling. The most challenging part of the cancer diagnostics processes is to identify the potential biomarkers as early as possible. Let-7 mi-RNA may be used as a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of lung cancer following its expression profile in the early stages of lung cancer. The regulation of let-7 expression and its manipulation may become an interesting futuristic approach to broaden the knowledge of the exact role of this micro-RNA family in tumorigenesis.

Reference: “ Suppression of non-small cell lung tumor development by the let-7 microRNA family”- Kumar et al. (2007)

Bulti Nayak
41846443