MicroRNA Signature in Human Normal and Tumoral Neural Stem Cells

Abstract

MicroRNAs, also called miRNAs or simply miR-, represent a unique class of non-coding RNAs that have gained exponential interest during recent years because of their determinant involvement in regulating the expression of several genes. Despite the increasing number of mature miRNAs recognized in the human species, only a limited proportion is engaged in the ontogeny of the central nervous system (CNS). miRNAs also play a pivotal role during the transition of normal neural stem cells (NSCs) into tumor-forming NSCs. More specifically, extensive studies have identified some shared miRNAs between NSCs and neural cancer stem cells (CSCs), namely miR-7, -124, -125, -181 and miR-9, -10, -130. In the context of NSCs, miRNAs are intercalated from embryonic stages throughout the differentiation pathway in order to achieve mature neuronal lineages. Within CSCs, under a different cellular context, miRNAs perform tumor suppressive or oncogenic functions that govern the homeostasis of brain tumors. This review will draw attention to the most characterizing studies dealing with miRNAs engaged in neurogenesis and in the tumoral neural stem cell context, offering the reader insight into the power of next generation miRNA-targeted therapies against brain malignances.

Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Characteristics and Applications

“…Compared to normal NSCs, cancerous NSCs upregulate oncogenic miRNAs, including miR-9, 17, 21, 106b, and 221, and downregulate tumor suppressor miRNAs, including miR-34a, 124, 137, 146a, and 152. 113 The relationship of Ab and miRNAs in AD was also reviewed. 114 The major miRNAs that are upregulated in AD include miR-21, 34a, 122, 126, 130b, 183, and 206 (i.e., most are neurodegenerative miRNAs).…”

mRNA and miRNA expression profile reveals the role of miR-31 overexpression in neural stem cell

“…Since a single miRNA can act on hundreds or thousands of target genes, the alternation of its expression not only lead to changes of the corresponding target gene expression level, but also can cause cascade radiation-like changes in the cell through protein–protein interactions, just like the butterfly effect, and ultimately even fundamentally convert the cell fate. In the past few years, many miRNAs have been demonstrated to be involved in the stemness maintenance of NSCs 19 and the differentiation of MNs 7 . But the specific details and cascade of their roles are still unclear.…”

miR-7 AND miR-34a sequence cloning and expression in a1235 glioblastoma cell line

“…7,28 It is detected as one of the miRNAs forming "miR signature" in neural stem and neural cancer stem cell. 32 In our experiments, A1235 cells with high expression of mature miR-7 were obtained. The cells were transfected with a miR DNA sequence, and the miR processing was dependent on the cellular machinery.…”