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MicroRNA Biogenesis and Cancer

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MicroRNA and Cancer

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 676))

Abstract

MicroRNAs are short non-coding RNA molecules that are involved in diverse physiological and developmental processes by controlling the gene expression of target mRNAs. They play important roles in almost all kinds of cancer where they modulate key processes during tumorigenesis such as metastasis, apoptosis, proliferation, or angiogenesis. Depending on the mRNA targets they regulate, they can act as oncogenes or as tumor suppressor genes. Multiple links between microRNA biogenesis and cancer highlight its significance for tumor diseases. However, mechanisms of their own regulation on the transcriptional and posttranscriptional level in health and disease are only beginning to emerge. Here, we review the microRNA-processing pathway as well as recent insights into posttranscriptional regulation of microRNA expression.

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Acknowledgments

We apologize to the many researchers whose important work in the microRNA field could not be cited due to space constraints. We are grateful for the support of our research by the Helmholtz Society (VH-NG-504), the Marie Curie Programme of the European Union (239308), the German Research Foundation (TRR77 TP B03), the German Cancer Research Center, and the Institute of Pathology at the University of Heidelberg. We would also like to thank all members of our lab for helpful discussions on the manuscript.

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  1. Helmholtz-University-Group “Molecular RNA Biology & Cancer,” German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Julia Winter & Sven Diederichs

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  1. Julia Winter
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  1. , Department of Biological Science, University of Calgary, University Drive N.W. 2500, Calgary, T2N 1N4, Alberta, Canada

    Wei Wu

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Winter, J., Diederichs, S. (2011). MicroRNA Biogenesis and Cancer. In: Wu, W. (eds) MicroRNA and Cancer. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 676. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-863-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-863-8_1

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