Emerging roles of microRNAs in acute lymphoblastic leukemia and the clinical prospects

Expert Rev Hematol. 2021 Nov 16. doi: 10.1080/17474086.2021.2007763. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTTargeted therapy with microRNAs (miRNAs) has been a significant challenge in recent years. Studying the role and mechanism through which miRNAs regulate various cancer processes is very critical in cancer treatment, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).Areas covered: This review summarizes the diverse roles of miRNAs in ALL and provides new perspectives in miRNA-based therapeutic strategies.Expert opinion: MiRNAs belong to a kind of endogenous non-coding small RNAs with the length of 19 ~ 25 nucleotides. They inhibit the expression of target genes and participate in almost all essential physiological processes such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and inflammatory responses. Many miRNAs are abnormally expressed in tumor cells, suggesting that they might be related to the occurrence and development of tumor. ALL is a common hematological malignancy in children. Its clinical manifestation, morphology, immunophenotype and genetic characteristics are highly heterogeneous. A number of miRNAs have been found to be abnormally expressed in ALL and related to the biological characteristics, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment in ALL patients. The understanding of miRNAs could help reveal ALL pathogenesis and identify accurate molecular markers for ALL diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic targets.PMID:34784832 | DOI:10.1080/17474086.2021.2007763
Source: Expert Review of Hematology - Category: Hematology Authors: Source Type: research