microRNA in the control of stem-like phenotype of cancer cells

Cancer therapies nowadays still cannot overcome the problems of tumor recurrence after chemo-, immuno-, or radiotherapy. This is mainly caused by ineffective eradication of cancer stem cells (also known as tumor initiating cells), that are responsible for tumor recurrence. These cells possess the capabilities of self-renewal, differentiation, and augmented resistance against conventional anticancer drugs. The stem-like properties of cancer cells are controlled by microRNAs (miRNAs), whose expression is usually disturbed during tumorigenesis. In cancer and cancer stem cells, several important miRNAs acting as tumor suppressors are downregulated, triggering proliferation and resistance to apoptosis, while several other oncogenic miRNAs are overexpressed, promoting self-renewal or dedifferentiation of cancer cells. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules with regulatory activity. They act as negative regulators of gene expression by binding to complementary sequences on the target mRNA. mRNA with bound miRNA cannot be translated and often, such an RNA duplex is degraded. Novel anti-cancer therapies currently being elucidated, benefit from the importance of miRNA for cancer maintenance, and intend to target aberrantly-expressed miRNA molecules in cancer cells. This review summarizes recent achievements regarding miRNA-mediated control of cancer stemlike properties, and first attempts to provide miRNA – targeted therapies.

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