MicroRNAs and Cancer

by Croce, Carlo

• ISBN13: 9781603272681
• ISBN10: 1603272682
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-12-01
• Publisher: HUMANA PRESS

Summary

The aim of this book is to reveal to a large spectrum of audience including biologists and physicians the extent of the microRNAs revolution in the cancer society. Alterations in miRNA genes play a critical role in the pathophysiology of many, perhaps all, human cancer: cancer initiation and progression can involve microRNAs (miRNAs) - small non-coding RNAs that can regulate gene expression. At the present time, the main mechanism of microRNAs alteration in cancer cells seems to be represented by aberrant gene expression, characterized by abnormal levels of expression for mature and/or precursor miRNA sequences in comparison with the corresponding normal tissues. Loss or amplification of miRNA genes has been reported in a variety of cancers and altered patterns of miRNA expression may affect cell cycle and survival programs. Germline and somatic mutations in miRNAs or polymorphisms in the mRNAs targeted by miRNAs may also contribute to cancer predisposition and progression. The causes of the widespread differential expression of miRNA genes between malignant and normal cells can be explained by the genomic location of these genes in cancer-associated genomic regions, by epigenetic mechanisms as well as by alterations of members of the processing machinery. MicroRNAs expression profiling has been exploited to identify miRNAs that are potentially involved in the pathogenesis of human cancers. MicroRNAs profiling achieved by various methods has allowed the identification of signatures associated with diagnosis, staging, progression, prognosis and response to treatment of human tumors. The book will be structured in the following way. A leader in the field, preferably the scientist who first described the specific findings, will write each chapter. We will encourage the senior author to write the chapter in collaboration with at least one colleague that actively participate in the main discoveries. As the field of miRNA is very competitive and challenging, for each chapter we propose also a second name as putative senior author if the first selected one will not be able to positively respond to our request. Furthermore, we propose an extended number of chapters (18), that can be reduced or extended after the count of final positive replays.

Author Biography

When Ohio State recruited Carlo Croce to lead its already acclaimed efforts in human cancer genetics, the university gained not only one of the world's top medical minds, but a savant of assorted fields who sees a strong link between science and the arts."Scientists and artists work in much the same manner," says Croce, who also chairs the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics in the OSU College of Medicine and Public Health. "Artists have workshops where established mentors teach young students. Then the very good students spin off and start their own careers and workshops, often in competition with their mentors.A member of the National Academy of Sciences and former director of the Kimmel Cancer Institute/Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, Croce has made a career of scrutinizing cancer at its most fundamental level, studying molecular changes in genes that can lead to the unregulated cell growth that characterizes this disease in its many forms.

Table of Contents

Basic Concepts Of Micro-RNA Involvement In Human Cancers

A Microrna Primer

Micrornas And Cancer - An Overwiew

Micrornas As Tumor Suppressors

Micrornas As Oncogenes

Mechanisms Of Microrna Disregulation In Human Cancers

Microrna Quantification In Human Cancers

Mice Models For Microrna Involment In Human Cancers

Targets Of Cancer Specific Micrornas

Ultraconserved Genes And Micrornas: The Cancer Connnection

Therapeutic Implications Of Micrornas Involvement In Human Cancers

Micrornas Involvement In Specific Cancers

Micrornas In Lung Cancers

Micrornas In Breast Cancer

Micrornas In Colon Cancers

Micrornas In Thyroid Cancers

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