IMR Press / FBS / Volume 11 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.2741/S525

Frontiers in Bioscience-Scholar (FBS) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Review
microRNAs: Epigenetic players in cancer and aging
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1 Department of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, TamilNadu-641 043, Coimbatore, India
2 Laboratory of Redox Regulation, Department of Zoology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, India
Send correspondence to: Ramalingam Nirmaladevi, Department of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, TamilNadu-641 043, India, Tel: 91-422-2440241, Fax: 91-422-2438786, E-mail: nirmaladevi.saravanan32@gmail.com
Front. Biosci. (Schol Ed) 2019, 11(1), 29–55; https://doi.org/10.2741/S525
Published: 1 March 2019
Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, small non-coding RNA molecules that play important regulatory roles in numerous biological processes, cellular pathways and networks. They do so by targeting specific mRNAs, directly degrading them and/or preventing their translation into proteins. The impaired function of miRNAs results in aberrant gene expression that promotes abnormal cell growth and differentiation. miRNAs, located at fragile sites or cancer associated regions of the genome, act as either tumor suppressor or tumor promoters. miRNAs also play significant role in aging and in various diseases. Despite the fact that profiling of miRNA expression is considered an important tool for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, such analysis has not yet been adopted in routine clinical care practices. Here, we highlight advances and challenges in research on cancer and aging in relation to miRNAs.

Keywords
Aging
miRNA biogenesis
Breast cancer
Colorectal cancer
Lung cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Gastric cancer and Leukemia
Review
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