MicroRNA-381 in human cancer: Its involvement in tumour biology and clinical applications potential

miRNAs in radiotherapy resistance of cancer; a comprehensive review

While intensity-modulated radiation therapy-based comprehensive therapy increases outcomes, cancer patients still have a low five-year survival rate and a high recurrence rate. The primary factor contributing to cancer patients' poor prognoses is radiation resistance. A class of endogenous non-coding RNAs, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), controls various biological processes in eukaryotes. These miRNAs influence tumor cell growth, death, migration, invasion, and metastasis, which controls how human carcinoma develops and spreads. The correlation between the unbalanced expression of miRNAs and the prognosis and sensitivity to radiation therapy is well-established. MiRNAs have a significant impact on the regulation of DNA repair, the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and stemness in the tumor radiation response. But because radio resistance is a complicated phenomena, further research is required to fully comprehend these mechanisms. Radiation response rates vary depending on the modality used, which includes the method of delivery, radiation dosage, tumor stage and grade, confounding medical co-morbidities, and intrinsic tumor microenvironment. Here, we summarize the possible mechanisms through which miRNAs contribute to human tumors' resistance to radiation.

miRNA-381 regulates renal cancer stem cell properties and sunitinib resistance via targeting SOX4

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are crucial in the pathogenesis of human cancers. Existing studies reported that microRNA (miRNA) modulates the stemness of CSCs. We discovered that renal cell CSCs have suppressed miR-381. Suppression of miR-381 promotes renal cell tumorigenesis and CSC-like properties. Furthermore, the forced expression of miR-381 prevents the renal cell tumorigenesis and CSC-like properties. Mechanistically, renal cell CSCs have been found to interact with SOX4 through miR-381 directly. miR-381 inhibits renal cell CSC-like properties and tumorigenesis via downregulating SOX4. Examination of the patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and patient cohorts reveals that miR-381 may be able to forecast the advantages of Sunitinib in RCC patients. Moreover, the introduction of SOX4 could reverse the sensitivity of miR-381 overexpression RCC cells to Sunitinib-induced cell apoptosis. These results indicated that miR-381 is critical in renal cell CSC-like properties and tumorigenesis, making it the ideal therapeutic target for RCC.

miRNAs, Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Major Neoplastic and Inflammatory Skin Diseases: A Page Being Written: A Systematic Review

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are a type of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) and typically interact with specific target mRNAs through complementary base pairing, affecting their translation and/or stability. MiRNAs regulate nearly all cellular functions, including the cell fate of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). It is now accepted that various pathologies arise at the stem level, and, in this scenario, the role played by miRNAs in the fate of MSCs becomes of primary concern. Here we have considered the existing literature in the field of miRNAs, MSCs and skin diseases, classified as inflammatory (such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis-AD) and neoplastic (melanoma and non-melanoma-skin-cancer including squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma) diseases. In this scoping review article, the evidence recovered indicates that this topic has attracted attention, but it is still a matter of opinion. A protocol for this review was registered in PROSPERO with the registration number "CRD42023420245". According to the different skin disorders and to the specific cellular mechanisms considered (cancer stem cells, extracellular vesicles, inflammation), miRNAs may play a pro- or anti-inflammatory, as well as a tumor suppressive, or supporting, role, indicating a complex regulation of their function. It is evident that the mode of action of miRNAs is more than a switch on-off, and all the observed effects of their dysregulated expression must be checked in a detailed analysis of the targeted proteins. The involvement of miRNAs has been studied mainly for squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, and much less in psoriasis and AD; different mechanisms have been considered, such as miRNAs included in extracellular vesicles derived both from MSCs or tumor cells, miRNAs involved in cancer stem cells formation, up to miRNAs as candidates to be new therapeutic tools.

Special Issue: Nanotherapeutics in Women's Health Emerging Nanotechnologies for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast cancer appears as the major cause of cancer-related deaths in women, with more than 2 260 000 cases reported worldwide in 2020, resulting in 684 996 deaths. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), characterized by the absence of estrogen, progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor type 2 receptors, represents ≈20% of all breast cancers. TNBC has a highly aggressive clinical course and is more prevalent in younger women. The standard therapy for advanced TNBC is chemotherapy, but responses are often short-lived, with high rate of relapse. The lack of therapeutic targets and the limited therapeutic options confer to individuals suffering from TNBC the poorest prognosis among breast cancer patients, remaining a major clinical challenge. In recent years, advances in cancer nanomedicine provided innovative therapeutic options, as nanoformulations play an important role in overcoming the shortcomings left by conventional therapies: payload degradation and its low solubility, stability, and circulating half-life, and difficulties regarding biodistribution due to physiological and biological barriers. In this integrative review, the recent advances in the nanomedicine field for TNBC treatment, including the novel nanoparticle-, exosome-, and hybrid-based therapeutic formulations are summarized and their drawbacks and challenges are discussed for future clinical applications.