Abstract

microRNA-based Therapeutics in Cancer

Frank Slack, Director/Professor, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Cancer Center/Harvard Medical School

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression to control important aspects of development and metabolism such as cell differentiation, apoptosis and lifespan. let-7 and miR-34 are microRNAs implicated in human cancer. Specifically, human let-7 and miR-34 are poorly expressed or deleted in lung cancer, and over-expression of let-7 or miR-34 in lung cancer cells inhibits their growth, demonstrating a role for these miRNAs as tumor suppressors in lung tissue. let-7 and miR-34 regulate the expression of important oncogenes implicated in lung cancer, suggesting a mechanism for their involvement in cancer. We are focused on the role of these genes and other oncomiRs in regulating proto-oncogene expression during development and cancer, and on using miRNAs to suppress tumorigenesis.