MicroRNA News and Research

RSS

In genetics, microRNAs (miRNA) are single-stranded RNA molecules of 21-23 nucleotides in length, which regulate gene expression. miRNAs are encoded by genes from whose DNA they are transcribed but miRNAs are not translated into protein (i.e. they are non-coding RNAs); instead each primary transcript (a pri-miRNA) is processed into a short stem-loop structure called a pre-miRNA and finally into a functional miRNA. Mature miRNA molecules are partially complementary to one or more messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, and their main function is to down-regulate gene expression.

Scientists demonstrate the importance of RNA editing in melanoma development

The importance of RNA editing in melanoma has been demonstrated by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study revealed that a lack of RNA editing, a process by which information inside RNA molecules is transformed, leads to tumor growth and progression through manipulation of proteins.

17 Feb 2015

Researchers identify two cell-signaling molecules that appear critical to stalling cancer's spread

In what is believed to be the largest epigenetic analysis to date of cell-signaling molecules in early-stage melanoma, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center have identified two tiny bits of non-coding genetic material in primary tumors that appear critical to stalling the cancer's spread -- and essentially setting the biological fate of the disease.

15 Feb 2015

Regulus Therapeutics reports top-line results from RG-101 clinical study for HCV treatment

Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, today announced top-line results from the 4 mg/kg cohort and additional results from the 2 mg/kg cohort in a completed clinical study evaluating RG-101, a wholly-owned, GalNac-conjugated anti-miR targeting microRNA-122 ("miR-122"), for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection ("HCV").

9 Feb 2015

Genomics of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC): an interview with Professor Thomas J. Giordano

There are two types of thyroid cells and therefore there are two broad types of thyroid cancer. Medullary carcinoma is derived from parafollicular or C cells, whereas follicular cells give rise to several types of thyroid cancers.

4 Feb 2015

Clusters of gene-blocking microRNAs can limit spread of cancer

Cancers that have spread throughout the body, a process known as metastasis, are difficult, often impossible, to control. They are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths.

4 Feb 2015

Researchers are one step closer to devising an approach to identify pancreatic cancer earlier

Pancreatic cancer affects approximately 46,000 people each year in the United States and ranks fourth among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths. Only about 6 percent of individuals with pancreatic cancer will live five years after their diagnosis.

3 Feb 2015

Study discovers microRNA signatures that could predict prognosis, distant metastasis in colorectal cancer

A new study developed at the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancer Research and the Center for Epigenetics, Cancer Prevention and Cancer Genomics at Baylor Research Institute has discovered unique metastasis-specific microRNA signatures in primary colorectal cancers that could predict prognosis and distant metastasis in colorectal cancer.

31 Jan 2015

Gensignia's research in CT lung cancer screening recognized by ASCO

Gensignia scientific co-founders' research has been recognized in Clinical Cancer Advances 2015: Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer From the American Society of Clinical Oncology published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) on January 20, 2015.

22 Jan 2015

Research breakthrough in understanding mosquito reproductive process

Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes have contributed to the death and suffering of millions throughout human history, earning the mosquito the title as the world's most dangerous animal. Even today, several devastating mosquito-borne diseases (such as malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus) continue to rage.

21 Jan 2015

Researchers reveal key factor in understanding elevated cancer risk linked to gene therapy

National Institutes of Health researchers have uncovered a key factor in understanding the elevated cancer risk associated with gene therapy. They conducted research on mice with a rare disease similar to one in humans, hoping their findings may eventually help improve gene therapy for humans. Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of NIH, published their research in the Jan. 20, 2015, online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

21 Jan 2015

TSRI scientists awarded $2.3 million grant to find ways to erase traumatic memories

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded $2.3 million from the Department of Health and Human Services of the National Institutes of Health to better understand how memories are stored in the hopes of eventually being able to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by erasing traumatic memories without altering other, more benign ones.

16 Dec 2014

Research finding could lead to new therapies for malignant glioma

Targeted therapies are a growing and groundbreaking field in cancer care in which drugs or other substances are designed to interfere with genes or molecules that control the growth and survival of cancer cells. Now, scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) have identified a novel interaction between a microRNA and a gene that could lead to new therapies for the most common and deadly form of brain tumor, malignant glioma.

12 Dec 2014

MD Anderson study sheds light on miR569 gene

A genetic misfire called the 3q26.2 amplicon can cause real havoc. In fact, it is among the most frequent chromosomal aberrations seen in many cancers, including ovarian and breast cancers.

9 Dec 2014

Findings may guide doctors to choose better therapies for patients with myeloma

The "molecular mail" sent by multiple myeloma cells provides clues to how well patients with the disease are likely to respond to treatment, according to a study being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

7 Dec 2014

Researchers identify possible prognostic biomarker in triple-negative breast cancer

"Triple-negative" breast cancer (TNBC) occurs in patients whose cells do not express receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and/or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ER-/PR-/HER2-).

2 Dec 2014

Alport syndrome: an interview with Dr Paul Grint, CMO, Regulus

Alport Syndrome was first described by a physician called Cecil Alport, back in the late 1920s. It's a genetic disease that affects a certain type of collagen involved in the functioning of the kidney, the ear, and the eye.

1 Dec 2014

Researchers discover new method to deliver drugs into aggressive tumors

A multi-disciplinary team of Yale Cancer Center researchers has discovered a promising new method for delivering drugs into aggressive tumors by exploiting a unique feature of tumors themselves.

21 Nov 2014

New preclinical study shows RG-012 may provide therapeutic benefit for Alport syndrome patients

Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, today announced that positive new preclinical data was presented on RG-012 for the treatment of renal dysfunction in Alport syndrome patients at the American Society of Nephrology's Kidney Week 2014 meeting being held November 11-16, 2014 in Philadelphia, PA.

18 Nov 2014

Study shows how exosomes secreted by tumor cells promote tumor growth

Researchers at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute of Bellvitge, the Catalan Institute of Oncology and the University Hospital of Bellvitge have participated in an international study published in the journal Cancer Cell that describes how exosomes secreted by tumor cells contain protein and microRNA molecules capable of transform neighboring cells into tumoral cells promoting tumor growth.

14 Nov 2014

New study shows that brain’s ability to manage stress depends on brain protein

The brain's ability to effectively deal with stress or to lack that ability and be more susceptible to depression, depends on a single protein type in each person's brain, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published November 12 in the journal Nature.