This leads to a tougher prediction of their behavior as gene expression regulators. miR-203 has been identified to play a negative role in the progression of malignant melanoma; however, it has been reported, with dual effect, as both an oncomiR and tumor suppressor miRNA in some malignancies, such as breast cancer, meanwhile, the role of miR-203 in melanoma stem cells or even metastatic cells is unclear.
It is considered that miRNA de-regulation contributes to tumor progression and metastasis in various cancers, and MiR-203a has been identified as a tumor suppressor in cancers, such as glioma, gastric cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma.
In searching for potential downstream targets of miR-203, a regulator of G-protein signaling 17 (RGS17) entered our sight due to its active role in a variety of malignant tumors.
To identify important miRNAs in melanoma, we compared the miRNome of primary and metastatic melanomas in The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset and found lower miR-203 abundance in metastatic melanoma.
Simulations of the model show how the size of the pancreatic cancer can be determined by measurement of specific miRs (miR-21 and miR-203 in the case of pancreatic cancer), suggesting these miRs as biomarkers for cancer.
These results proposed a new molecular mechanism of MALAT-miR203-DCP1A axis which is involved with the development and contributes to the malignancy of colorectal cancers.
Applying human pharynx FaDu cancer cells and lentiviral transduction technique, we investigated the effects of miR-203 on cancer cell viability, migration and invasion.
miR-203 and ΔNp63 displayed a similar expression pattern across cervical tissues and both targets showed statistically significant differences between low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) x high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL); HSIL x Cancer.
While it is known that miR-203 is frequently downregulated in many types of human cancer, little is known regarding its expression and functional role in colorectal cancer (CRC).
These results provide the convincing evidence for the first time that up-regulation of miRNA-203 contributes to the malignancy of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, possibly through down-regulating TP63 and B3GNT5.
The inhibitory effect of miR-203 on the cancer cells is partially mediated by downregulating its target, BANF1, since knockdown of BANF1 also suppresses colony formation, migration and invasion.
Cancer stem-like cells exist in many malignancies and several stem cell-related genes and microRNAs, such as Bmi-1 and miR-203, have been identified as cancer stem-like cell regulators using gene microarray or sequencing analysis.