The Role of microRNAs in Development of Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 8; p. 3967
• Main Authors: Bocchetti, Marco, Ferraro, Maria Grazia, Ricciardiello, Filippo, Ottaiano, Alessandro, Luce, Amalia, Cossu, Alessia Maria, Scrima, Marianna, Leung, Wing-Yan, Abate, Marianna, Stiuso, Paola, Caraglia, Michele, Zappavigna, Silvia, Yau, Tung On
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 12-04-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Angiogenesis; Apoptosis; biomarkers; Cancer; Carcinogenesis; Carcinogenesis - genetics; Carcinogens; Cell death; Cell growth; Colitis; Colitis - complications; Colitis - genetics; Colitis - pathology; colitis-associated colorectal cancer; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal carcinoma; Colorectal Neoplasms - complications; Colorectal Neoplasms - genetics; Colorectal Neoplasms - pathology; Cytokines; Disease; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic - genetics; Humans; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Inflammatory bowel diseases; microRNA; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - genetics; miRNA; Non-coding RNA; Nucleotides; Proteins; Review; Roles; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumorigenesis; microRNA; colorectal cancer; biomarkers; colitis-associated colorectal cancer; inflammatory bowel disease
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms22083967

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most deadly cancer worldwide, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the critical factors in CRC carcinogenesis. IBD is responsible for an unphysiological and sustained chronic inflammation environment favoring the transformation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) belong to a class of highly conserved short single-stranded segments (18-25 nucleotides) non-coding RNA and have been extensively discussed in both CRC and IBD. However, the role of miRNAs in the development of colitis-associated CRC (CAC) is less clear. The aim of this review is to summarize the major upregulated (miR-18a, miR-19a, miR-21, miR-31, miR-155 and miR-214) and downregulated (miR-124, miR-193a-3p and miR-139-5p) miRNAs in CAC, and their roles in genes' expression modulation in chronic colonic-inflammation-induced carcinogenesis, including programmed cell-death pathways. These miRNAs dysregulation could be applied for early CAC diagnosis, to predict therapy efficacy and for precision treatment.