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Review
. 2022 Sep 29;23(19):11502.
doi: 10.3390/ijms231911502.

miRNA: A Promising Therapeutic Target in Cancer

Amrutha Menon  1 , Noraini Abd-Aziz  2 , Kanwal Khalid  2 , Chit Laa Poh  2 , Rakesh Naidu  3
Affiliations
Review

miRNA: A Promising Therapeutic Target in Cancer

Amrutha Menon et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

microRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate several genes post-transcriptionally by complementarity pairing. Since discovery, they have been reported to be involved in a variety of biological functions and pathologies including cancer. In cancer, they can act as a tumor suppressor or oncomiR depending on the cell type. Studies have shown that miRNA-based therapy, either by inhibiting an oncomiR or by inducing a tumor suppressor, is effective in cancer treatment. This review focusses on the role of miRNA in cancer, therapeutic approaches with miRNAs and how they can be effectively delivered into a system. We have also summarized the patents and clinical trials in progress for miRNA therapy.

Keywords: cancer; miRNA; miRNA delivery; oncomiR; therapy; tumor suppressor.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Different hallmarks of cancer being induced or inhibited by various miRNAs.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Different miRNAs regulating various cancers. One type of cancer is being regulated by mutliple miRNAs. A single miRNA can act as a tumor suppressor or oncomiR based on the cell type.
Figure 3
Figure 3
miRNA-based therapeutic strategies against cancer. (A). Several strategies are employed to repress the expression of oncomiRs and to promote the activity of tumor suppressor miRNAs. (B). miRNA-based therapeutic strategies and their mechanism of action against cancer. The effect of oncomiRs on tumor-suppressing mRNA (TS mRNA) can be controlled by (a) anti-miR oligos, (b) Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA), (c) miRNA sponges and (d) miRNA masking.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Different systems available for miRNA delivery can be categorized into non-viral vectors and viral vectors. The non-viral miRNA delivery system uses organic [161,162], inorganic [163] or polymer-based carriers [164,165], whereas viral-based delivery system uses lentiviruses [166,167,168], retroviruses [169], adenoviruses or adeno-associated viruses (AAV) [170].
Figure 5
Figure 5
The cellular uptake of miRNA-loaded exosomes. Purified exosomes were transfected with the miRNA mimic to form miRNA-loaded exosomes which may enter cells through fusion or endocytosis, where they bind to target mRNA in the cytosol.
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