MicroRNA in Development and in the Progression of Cancer, 2014

miRNAs are a class of endogenous, small non-protein coding RNA molecules (~ 22 nucleotides) which are novel post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. Since we have hundreds of miRNAs, the major challenge is now to understand their specific biological function. In fact the experimental evidence suggests that signaling pathways could be ideal candidates for miRNA-mediated regulation. Several studies suggest that miRNAs affect the responsiveness of cells to signaling molecules such as WNT, Notch, TGF-? and EGFR. Altered expression of particular miRNAs has been implicated in the onset and development of cancer and could be used as potential biomarkers for the disease.

Recently, many studies have found miRNAs have crucial regulatory roles in Cancer stem cells (CSCs) a kind of tumor initiating cells (TICs) and dormancy. Findings also suggest that DNA methylation may be important in regulating the expression of many miRNAs in several cancer initiating cells. Several miRNAs are known to either upregulated or downregulated in CSCs when compared to non-cancerous cells from the same tissues. CSCs are a small subpopulation of cells identified in a variety of tumors and involve in self-renewal, differentiation, chemoresistance and tumorigenesis. The volume will give a comprehensive account of important advancements in the area of miRNAs and cancer.

SECTION 1: THE FUNCTIONS AND MECHANISMS OF MICRORNAs
1. miRNA biogenesis and function Abigail F. Olena and James G. Patton
2. miRNAs in cancer progression Omozusi Andrews and James G. Patton
3. MicroRNA, DNA repair and cancer Hailiang Hu

SECTION 2: MICRORNAs IN STEM CELLS AND PROGRESSION OF CANCER
4. Role of microRNAs in stem cells regulation and tumorigenesis in Drosophila Lyric Forney, Stephanie Rager, Eviatar Nevo and Shree Ram Singh
5. MicroRNAs in stem cells and cancer stem cells Ryan D. Mohan, Bernadette Bibber, Garima Sinha, Shyam A. Patel, and Pranela Rameshwar
6. MicroRNAs in epithelial mesenchymal transition and breast cancer progression George R. Nahas, Bernadette M. Bibber, Pranela Rameshwar
7. MicroRNAs in the development and progression of breast cancer Muthusawamy Thangraju and Ashok Jain
8. The role of microRNAs in hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia development Safak Yalcin, Stephen S. Chung, Christopher Y. Park 9. MiRNA and chronic lymphocytic leukemia Heba Degheidy, Siddha Kasar, Chingiz Underbayev, Yao Yuan, Smruti Mehta, Marilyn Lightfoote, Gerald Marti, and Elizabeth Raveche
10. The role of miRNAs in the development of normal pancreas and pancreatic cancer, and their roles in tumor progression Yiwei Li, Dejuan Kong, Aamir Ahmad, Bin Bao, and Fazlul H. Sarkar
11. Epigenetic regulation of microRNA genes in colorectal cancer Hiromu Suzuki, Eiichiro Yamamoto, Reo Maruyama
12. MicroRNAs in the development and progression of kidney cancer Sharanjot Saini, Sumit Arora, Shahana Majid, Hiroshi Hirata and Rajvir Dahiya
13. MicroRNAs in the development and progression of skin cancer Vivek Choudhary, Meg Gullotto, Lisa Sato, and Wendy B Bollag
14. MicroRNAs in the Development and Progression of Prostate Cancer Nagalakshmi Nadiminty, Ramakumar Tummala, Allen C. Gao
15. MicroRNAs in development and progression of ovarian cancer Monika Sangwan and Neetu Dahiya

SECTION 3: ROLE OF MICRORNA AND POTENTIAL CANCER THERAPEUTICS
16. MicroRNA and Cancer Drug Resistance Daohong Chen and Harikrishna Nakshatri
17. Microvesicular Transfer of microRNA in Tumor Microenvironment Krishna C Vallabhaneni, Patrice Penfornis, J. Griffin Orr, Krishna Chauhan and Radhika Pochampally
18. MicroRNA cancer therapeutics and the challenge of drug delivery Steven J. Greco, Jessian L. Munoz, Pranela Rameshwar
19. MicroRNA and Drug Delivery Joseph S. Fernandez-Moure, Jeffrey Van Epps, Bradley K. Weiner, Mauro Ferrari EnnioTasciotti

Dr. Shree Ram Singh is a Staff Scientist for the Mouse Cancer Genetics Program at the National Cancer Institute. 

Dr. Pranela Rameshwar is a Professor of the Department of Medicine at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. See attached CV for additional details.

Provides a more complete understanding of miRNAs function

Explore how miRNAs regulate normal development, diseases including cancers and stem cells fate

Presents the great potential of miRNAs in CSCs and potential therapeutic advances for cancer

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras