Polycomb group protein enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a methyltransferase that correlates with the regulation of invasion and metastasis and is overexpressed in human cancers such as colorectal cancer. MicroRNA-31 (miR-31) plays an oncogenic role and is associated with BRAF mutation and poor prognosis in colorectal cancer. EZH2 is functionally considered to suppress miR-31 expression in ...

The biological functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been studied in a number of eukaryotic species. Recent studies on vertebrate animals have demonstrated critical roles of miRNA in immune and metabolic activities. However, studies on the functions of miRNA in invertebrates are very limited. Here, we demonstrated that miR-31 from Apostichopus japonicus disrupts the balance of lipid metabolism, ...

Small non-protein coding RNAs that regulate messenger RNA levels, namely microRNAs (miRNAs), have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases. The purpose of the present study was to identify essential miRNAs involved in lung carcinogenesis. Previous studies demonstrated that an investigation into the downstream targets of oncogenic KRAS could be used as a strategy to elucidate the ...

Half of lung cancers are diagnosed in former smokers, leading to a significant treatment burden in this population. Chemoprevention in former smokers using the prostacyclin analogue iloprost reduces endobronchial dysplasia, a premalignant lung lesion. Iloprost requires the presence of the WNT receptor Frizzled 9 (Fzd9) for inhibition of transformed growth in vitro. To investigate the relationsh...

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is associated with an extremely poor prognosis, and most patients initially are or rapidly become unresponsive to platinum-based chemotherapy. MicroRNA-31 (miR-31) is encoded on a genomic fragile site, 9p21.3, which is reportedly lost in many MPM tumors. Based on previous findings in a variety of other cancers, we hypothesized that miR-31 alters chemosensiti...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the fibrosis of systemic sclerosis (SSc). However, the underlying miRNA-mRNA regulatory network is not fully understood. A systemic investigation of the role of miRNAs would be very valuable for increasing our knowledge of the pathogenesis of SSc. Here, we combined miRNA and mRNA expression profiles and bioinformatics analyses and then performed valida...

Deregulated microRNAs play a role in the development and progression of colon cancer, but little is known about their tissue and cell distribution in the continuum of normal mucosa through the premalignant adenoma to invasive adenocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to examine the expression pattern of the miR-17-92 cluster (miR-17, miR-18, miR-19, miR-20 and miR-92) as well as miR-21, miR-31,...

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a malignancy of epidermal keratinocytes that is responsible for ~20% of annual skin cancer-associated mortalities. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that the dysregulation of micro (mi)RNAs serves a significant role in the tumorigenesis and progression of human cSCC. MicroRNA-31 (miR-31) is upregulated in cSCC and is involved in cSCC development. How...

MicroRNAs (miRs) function as key regulators of gene expression and their deregulation is associated with the carcinogenesis of various cancers. In the present study, the aim was to validate the potential roles and regulatory mechanisms of miR-708 and miR-31 in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. miR-708 and miR-31 were found to be highly expressed in five CRC tissue samples. Functional studies showe...

BACKGROUND Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura (SFTP) are rare neoplasia of the chest. A subset of SFTP follows a malignant course, sometimes several years after complete resection. Traditional scoring systems based on clinical and histological features are poor predictors of biological behavior. This study aimed to investigate tumor-associated miRNAs expression as novel biomarkers to predict...