MicroRNA expression in lymphoma

Abstract

MicroRNAs are a recently discovered class of short (∼ 22 nucleotide) naturally occurring RNA molecules that negatively regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. There has been an explosion of interest in the microRNA field as these molecules have been found to play key roles in a wide range of biological processes and to be aberrantly expressed in many types of cancer, including haematological malignancies. Cancer-associated microRNAs can act as both tumour suppressor molecules (e.g., miR-15a and miR-16-1) and have oncogenic properties (e.g., miR-155 and miR-17-92 cluster). In this review the authors discuss the rapidly accumulating evidence for the central role that microRNAs play in both haematopoiesis and haematological malignancy, in particular focusing on their role in lymphoma.

Keywords::

• cancer
• haematological malignancies
• haematopoiesis
• leukaemia
• lymphoma
• microRNA

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by grants from the Leukaemia Research Fund and the Julian Starmer-Smith Memorial Fund.

Notes