Application of MicroRNA in Diagnosis and Treatment of Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Ovarian cancer has a poor prognosis because early detection is difficult and recurrent ovarian cancer is usually drug-resistant. The morbidity and mortality of ovarian cancer are high worldwide and new methods of diagnosis and therapy are needed. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression that are involved in carcinogenesis, metastasis, and invasion. Thus, miRNAs are likely to be useful as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and for cancer therapy. Many miRNAs have altered expression in ovarian cancer compared to normal ovarian tissues and these changes may be useful for diagnosis and treatment. For example, deficiencies of enzymes including Dicer and Drosha that are required for miRNA biogenesis may be adverse prognostic factors; miRNAs such as miR-214 and miR-31, which are involved in drug resistance, and the miR-200 family, which is implicated in metastasis, may serve as biomarkers; and transfection of downregulated miRNAs and inhibition of upregulated miRNAs may be effective for treatment of ovarian cancer. Chemotherapy targeting epigenetic mechanisms associated with miRNAs may also be effective to reverse gene silencing.

MiR-205 promotes motility of ovarian cancer cells via targeting ZEB1

“…Accumulating studies have identified a number of miRNAs with aberrant expression in EOC tissues or cells, and indicated that they might be involved into a variety of tumorigenic processes, including cell motility [24]. In the current study, we linked ZEB1 to miR-205, and Based on these findings, we reasonably speculate that overexpression of miR-205 may contribute to ZEB1-mediated tumor progression in human EOCs.…”

miR-214 promotes radioresistance in human ovarian cancer cells by targeting PETN

“…PTEN is a negative regulator of PI3K/AKT pathway, thereby being involved in the regulation of apoptosis, DNA damage repair and EMT during embryonic development, cancer progression, and radiotherapy [37][38][39]. Previous study reported that microRNA-214 acts as a potential oncogene in breast cancer by targeting the PTEN-PI3K/Akt signaling pathway [40]. To further explore the molecular mechanisms of tumor radioresistant induced by miR-214, we examined the expression of Akt.…”

Expression of microRNA-30a-5p in drug-resistant and drug-sensitive ovarian cancer cell lines

“…The current study identified multiple microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) that were differentially expressed in tumor tissue and serum of ovarian cancer patients. These miRNAs have been reported to be important in the occurrence and progression of ovarian cancer, and are expected to be used in early diagnosis, prognosis, recurrence and treatment of ovarian cancer (4)(5)(6).…”