1.Apoptosis and the target genes of microRNA-21.
Lindsey E Becker BUSCAGLIA ; Yong LI
Chinese Journal of Cancer 2011;30(6):371-380
MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) is frequently up-regulated in cancer and the majority of its reported targets are tumor suppressors. Through functional suppression, miR-21 is implicated in practically every walk of oncogenic life: the promotion of cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, genome instability and mutation, inflammation, replicative immortalization, abnormal metabolism, angiogenesis, and evading apoptosis, immune destruction, and growth suppressors. In particular, miR-21 is strongly involved in apoptosis. In this article, we reviewed the experimentally validated targets of miR-21 and found that two thirds are linked to intrinsic and/or extrinsic pathways of cellular apoptosis. This suggests that miR-21 is an oncogene which plays a key role in resisting programmed cell death in cancer cells and that targeting apoptosis is a viable therapeutic option against cancers expressing miR-21.
Animals
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Apoptosis
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Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins
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metabolism
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Genes, Tumor Suppressor
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Humans
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MicroRNAs
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genetics
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metabolism
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Neoplasms
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genetics
;
metabolism
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pathology
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PTEN Phosphohydrolase
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metabolism
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RNA-Binding Proteins
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metabolism
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Tumor Suppressor Proteins
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genetics
;
metabolism