Role of MicroRNAs in Cancer Development and Treatment

Dear Colleagues,

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) represent a prominent part of the non-coding landscape of the human genome. Their role is performed on post-transcriptional level and is accomplished by base pairing with the 3’-UTR of target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). As a consequence, mRNA degradation or translational inhibition occurs, which finally leads to the absence of a protein product. Being part of the human non-coding transcriptome, miRNAs reside in regions which frequently undergo alterations in malignancies. As a consequence, specific deregulation of miRNAs that control genes involved in the cell cycle, senescence and apoptosis is observed in all human cancers. Therefore, the specific expression profile of miRNA in different cancers, together with their stability and easy detection, provides excellent biomarker properties of miRNAs that can be used for diagnosis, staging, and may have wide clinical application.

This Special Issue focuses on the information of the readers regarding the potential of miRNAs to regulate protein-coding gene expression at a post-transcriptional level in cancer development and treatment. The authors are encouraged to submit their original research studies concerning this topic. Review articles will also be taken into consideration. We hope that this Special Issue regarding the identity, biological role, and/or clinical utility of miRNAs will arouse the interest of the readers of this journal.

Dr. Nikolay Mehterov
Guest Editor

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