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Review
. 2019 Sep 19;2(3):618-633.
doi: 10.20517/cdr.2019.55. eCollection 2019.

MicroRNAs and cancer drug resistance: over two thousand characters in search of a role

Bruno Costa Gomes  1 , José Rueff  1 , António Sebastião Rodrigues  1
Affiliations
Review

MicroRNAs and cancer drug resistance: over two thousand characters in search of a role

Bruno Costa Gomes et al. Cancer Drug Resist. .

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a group of small regulatory noncoding RNAs, transformed our thinking on gene regulation. More than two thousand human miRNAs have been identified thus far. These bind imperfectly to the 3'-untranslated region of target mRNA and have been involved in several pathological conditions including cancer. In fact, major hallmarks of cancer, such as the cell cycle, cell proliferation, survival and invasion are modulated by miRNAs. Cancer drug resistance (CDR) has also been described as being modulated by miRNAs. CDR remains a burden for cancer therapy and patients' outcome, often resulting in more aggressive tumours that tend to metastasize to distant organs. In this review we discuss the role of miRNAs influencing drug metabolism and drug influx/efflux, two important mechanisms of CDR.

Keywords: MicroRNAs; cancer drug resistance; drug metabolism; drug transporters; gene regulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A schematic representation of the regulation of influx and efflux proteins by miRNAS
Figure 2
Figure 2
A schematic representation of the regulation of DMEs by by miRNAS. DMEs: drug metabolizing enzymes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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