Abstract
MicroRNAs are small 19 to 22 nucleotide sequences of RNA that participate in the regulation of cell differentiation, cell cycle progression, and apoptosis. MicroRNAs act much like small interfering RNA, annealing with RISC, to cleave messenger RNA, and microRNAs exert translational inhibition that is incompletely understood. They are important factors in tumorigenesis and have been the subject of research in many types of cancers, including colon cancer. MicroRNAs may be abnormally down-regulated or up-regulated in colon-cancer tissue. Artificial dysregulation of certain microRNAs will trigger tumorigenesis or apoptosis depending on which microRNA is manipulated. Although the natural mechanisms for the dysregulation of microRNAs is still largely unknown, one theory tested in colon cancers proposes that DNA hypermethylation leads to down-regulation of certain microRNAs. Specific microRNA expression patterns help characterize specific cancers and may be used as a prognostication factor and in following patient response to 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy. This article reviews the existing literature pertaining to the study of microRNA in colorectal cancer.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lee RC, Feinbaum RL, Ambros V (1993) The C. elegans heterochronic gene lin-4 encodes small RNAs with antisense complementarity to lin-14. Cell 75:843–854
Reinhart BJ, Slack FJ, Basson M et al (2000) The 21 nucleotide let-7 RNA regulates developmental timing in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature 403:901–906
Brennecke J, Hipfner DR, Stark A et al (2003) Bantam encodes a developmentally regulated microRNA that controls cell proliferation and regulates the proapoptotic gene hid in Drosophila. Cell 113:25–36
Lagos-Quintana M, Rauhut R, Yalcin A et al (2002) Identification of tissue-specific microRNAs from mouse. Curr Biol 12:735–739
Calin GA, Dumitru CD, Shimizu M et al (2002) Frequent deletions and down-regulation of micro- RNA genes miR15 and miR16 at 13q14 in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:15524–15529
Hannon GJ (2002) RNA interference. Nature 418:244–251
Meister G, Tuschl T (2004) Mechanisms of gene silencing by double stranded RNA. Nature 431:343–349
Ambros V (2004) The functions of animal microRNAs. Nature 431:350–355
Bartel DP (2004) MicroRNA: genomics, biogenesis, mechanisms, and functions. Cell 116:281–297
Lagos-Quintana M, Rauhut R, Lendeckel W et al (2001) Identification of novel genes coding for small expressed RNAs. Science 294:853–858
Lee Y, Jeon K, Lee JT et al (2002) MicroRNA maturation: stepwise processing and subcellular localization. EMBO J 21:4663–4670
Basyuk E. Suavet F, Doglio A et al (2003) Human let-7 stem-loop precursors harbors features of RNase III cleavage products. Nucleic Acids Res 31:6593–6597
Lee Y, Ahn C, Han J et al (2003) The nuclear RNase III Drosha initiates microRNA processing. Nature 425:415–419
Yi R, Qin Y, Mascara IG, Cullen BR (2003) Exportin-5 mediates the nuclear export of premicroRNA and short hairpin RNAs. Genes Dev 17:3011–3016
Bohnsack MT, Czaplinski K, Görlich D (2001) Exportin 5 is a RanGTP-dependent dsRNA-binding protein that mediates nuclear export of pre-miRNA. RNA 10:185–191
Hutvágner G, McLachlan J, Pasquinelli AE et al (2001) A cellular function for the RNA interference enzyme Dicer in small temporal RNA maturation. Science 293:834–838
Hammond SM, Bernstein E, Beach D et al (2000) An RNA-directed nuclease mediates post-transcriptional gene silencing in Drosophila cells. Nature 404:293–296
Hammond SM, Boettcher S, Caudy AA et al (2001) Argonaute2, a link between genetic and biochemical analyses of RNAi. Science 293:1146–1150
Mourelatos Z, Dostie J, Pauhkin S et al (2002) miRNPs: a novel class of ribonucleoproteins containing numerous microRNAs. Genes Dev 16:720–728
Hutvágner G, Zamore PD (2002) A microRNA in a multiple-turnover RNAi enzyme complex. Science 297:2056–2060
Zeng Y, Wagner EJ, Cullen BR (2003) MicroRNAs and small interfering RNAs can inhibit mRNA expression by similar mechanisms. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:9779–9784
Olsen PH, Ambros V (1999) The lin-4 regulatory RNA controls developmental timing in C. elegans by blocking LIN-14 protein synthesis after the initiation of translation. Dev Biol 216:671–680
Kim J, Krichevsky A, Grad Y et al (2004) Identification of many microRNAs that copurify with polyribosomes in mammalian neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:360–365
Liu J, Valencia-Sanchex MA, Hannon GJ et al (2005) MicroRNA-dependent localization of targeted mRNAs to mammalian P-bodies. Nat Cell Biol 7:719–723
Sheth U, Parker R (2003) Decapping and decay of messenger RNA occur in cytoplasmic processing bodies. Science 300:805–808
Ingelfinger D, Arndt-Jovin DJ, Luhrmann R et al (2002) The human LSm1-7 proteins colocalize with the mRNA-degrading enzymes Dcp1/2 and Xrnl in distinct cytoplasmic foci. RNA 8:1489–1501
van Dijk E, Cougot N, Meyer S et al (2002) Human Dcp 2: a catalytically active mRNA decapping enzyme located in specific cytoplasmic structures. EMBO J 21:6915–6924
Cummins JM, He Y, Leary RJ et al (2006) The colorectal microRNAome. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:3687–3692
Xi Y, Edwards JR, Ju J (2007) Investigation of miRNA biology by bioinformatic tools and impact of miRNA in colorectal cancer: regulatory relationship of c-Myc and p53 with miRNAs. Cancer Inform 3:245–253
Schlabach MR, Luo J, Solimini NL et al (2008) Cancer proliferation gene discovery through functional genomics. Science 319:620–624
Croce CM, Calin GA (2005) miRNA, Cancer and stem cell division. Cell 122:6–7
Metzler M, Wilda M, Busch K et al (2004) High expression of precursor microRNA 155/BIC RNA in children with Burkitt lymphoma. Genes Chrom Cancer 39:167–169
Eis PS, Tam W, Sun L et al (2005) Accumulation of miR-155 and BIC RNA in human B cell lymphomas. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:3627–3632
Takamizawa J, Konishi H, Yanagisawa K et al (2005) Reduced expression of the let-7 microRNA in human lung cancers in association with shortened postoperative survival. Cancer Res 64:3753–3756
Michael MZ, O’ Connor SM, t Pellekaan NG et al (2003) Reduced accumulation of specific microRNAs in colorectal neoplasia. Mol Cancer Res 1:882–891
Volinia S, Calin GA, Liu CG et al (2006) miRNA expression signature of human solid tumors defines cancer gene targets. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:2257–2261
Akao Y, Nakagawa Y, Naoe T (2006) MicroRNAs 143 and 145 are possible common onco-microRNAs in human cancers. Oncol Rep 16:845–850
Shi B, Sepp-Lorenzino L, Prisco M et al (2007) Micro RNA 145 targets the insulin receptor substrate-1 and inhibits the growth of colon cancer cells. J Biol Chem 282:32582–32590
Akao Y, Nakagawa Y, Naoe T (2006) Let-7 microRNA functions as a potential growth suppressor in human colon cancer cells. Biol Pharm Bull 29:903–906
Fang WJ, Lin CZ, Zhang HH et al (2007) Detection of let-7a microRNA by real-time PCR in colorectal cancer: a single-centre experience from China. J Int Med Res 3:716–723
Brueckner B, Stresemann C, Kuner R et al (2007) The human let-7a–3 locus contains an epigenetically regulated microRNA gene with oncogenic function. Cancer Res 67:1419–1423
Sampson VB, Rong NH, Han J et al (2007) MicroRNA let-7a down-regulates MYC and reverts MYC-induced growth in Burkitt lymphoma cells. Cancer Res 67:9762–9770
Tazawa H, Tsuchiya N, Izumiya M et al (2007) Tumor-suppressive miR-34a induces senescence-like growth arrest through modulation of the E2F pathway in human colon cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:15472–15477
Bandres E, Cubedo E, Agirre X et al (2006) Identification by real-time PCR of 13 mature microRNAs differentially expressed in colorectal cancer and non-tumoral tissues. Mol Cancer 5:29
Xi Y, Shalgi R, Fodstad O et al (2006) Differentially regulated micro-RNAs and actively translated messenger RNA transcripts by tumor suppressor p53 in colon cancer. Clin Cancer Res 12:2014–2024
Lamy P, Andersen CL, Dyrskjøt L et al (2006) Are microRNAs located in genomic regions associated with cancer? Br L Cancer 95:1415–1418
Lujambio A, Ropero S, Ballestar E et al (2007) Genetic unmasking of an epigenetically silenced microRNA in human cancer cells. Cancer Res 67:1424–1429
Han L, Witmer PD, Casey E et al (2007) DNA methylation regulates MicroRNA expression. Cancer Biol Ther 6:1284–1288
Grady WM, Parkin RK, Mitchell PS et al (2008) Epigenetic silencing of the intronic microRNA hsa-miR-342 and its host gene EVL in colorectal cancer. Oncogene 27:3880–3888
Landi D, Gemignani F, Naccarati A et al (2008) Polymorphisms within micro-RNA binding sites and risk of sporadic colorectal cancer. Carcinogenesis 29:579–584
Kulshreshtha R, Ferracin M, Wojcik SE et al (2007) A microRNA signature of hypoxia. Mol Cell Biol 27:1859–1867
Harris AL (2002) Hypoxia—a key regulatory factor in tumour growth. Nat Rev Cancer 2:38–47
Calin GA, Ferracin M, Cimmino A et al (2005) A microRNA signature associated with prognosis and progression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. N Engl J Med 353:1793–1801
Yanaihara N, Caplen N, Bowman E et al (2006) Unique microRNA molecular profiles in lung cancer diagnosis and prognosis and prognosis. Cancer Cell 9:189–198
Xi Y, Formentini A, Chien M et al (2006) Prognostic values of microRNAs in colorectal cancer. Biomark Insights 2:113–121
Asangani IA, Rasheed SA, Nikolova DA et al (2008) MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) post-transcriptionally downregulates tumor suppressor Pdcd4 and stimulates invasion, intravasation, and metastasis in colorectal cancer. Oncogene 27:2128–2136
Schetter AJ, Leung SY, Sohn JJ et al (2008) MicroRNA expression profiles associated with prognosis and therapeutic outcome in colon adenocarcinoma. JAMA 299:425–436
Slaby O, Svoboda M, Fabian P et al (2007) Altered expression of miR-21, miR-31, miR-143 and miR-145 is related to clinicopathologic features of colorectal cancer. Oncology 72:397–402
Lanza G, Ferracin M, Gafà R et al (2007) mRNA/microRNA gene expression profile in microsatellite unstable colorectal cancer. Mol Cancer 6:54
Rossi L, Bonmassar E, Faraoni I (2007) Modification of miR gene expression pattern in human colon cancer cells following exposure to 5-fluorouracil in vitro. Pharmacol Res 56:248–253
Meng F, Henson R, Lang M et al (2006) Involvement of human micro-RNA in growth and response to chemotherapy in human choangiocarcinoma cell lines. Gastroenterology 130:2113–2129
Matsumoto K, Akao Y, Yi K et al (2004) Preferential target is mitrochondria in α-mangostin-induced apoptosis in human leukemia HL60 cells. Bioorg Med Chem 12:5799–5806
Niu Z, Li A, Zhang S, Schwartz R (2007) Serum response factor micromanaging cardiogenesis. Curr Opin Cell Biol 19:618–627
Gao X, Sedgwick T, Shi Y et al (1998) Distinct functions are implicated for the GATA-4,-5, and -6 transcription factors in the regulation of intestine epithelial cell differentiation. Mol Cell Biol 18:2901–2911
Haveri H, Westerholm-Ormio M, Lindfors K et al (2008) Transcription factors GATA-4 and GATA-6 in normal and neoplastic human gastrointestinal mucosa. BMC Gastroenterol 8:9
Acknowledgements
The symposium was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R13 CA132572 to Changyi Chen).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, L., Belaguli, N. & Berger, D.H. MicroRNA and Colorectal Cancer. World J Surg 33, 638–646 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-008-9865-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-008-9865-5