Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute an evolutionarily conserved class of small, noncoding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression by targeting specific mRNAs for degradation and/or translational repression. MiRNAs have been widely investigated due to their potential role in regulating a variety of cellular processes, including proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Many miRNAs are implicated in various human cancers. Functional analysis of cancer-related miRNAs has proposed that they might act as either oncogenes or tumor suppressors. In fact, the link between aberrant miRNA expression and cancer development and progression can be observed either through the loss of tumor suppressor miRNAs or the over-expression of oncogenic miRNAs. This chapter aims to provide a succinct framework to gain insight into miRNA function in cancer.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all authors responsible for the insights that I attempted to summarize. I apologize to the colleagues whose work was not cited because of space considerations.
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Babashah, S. (2014). MicroRNAs and Cancer: An Overview. In: Babashah, S. (eds) MicroRNAs: Key Regulators of Oncogenesis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03725-7_1
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