1. ¹Human Cancer Genetics, Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
2. ²Department of Medicine, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
3. ³Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
4. ⁴Department of Leukemia, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
5. ⁵Department of Experimental Therapeutics, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
6. ⁶Department of Cancer Genetics, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Correspondence: Professor GA Calin, Department of Experimental Therapeutics and Department of Cancer Genetics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA. E-mail: gcalin@mdanderson.org

Received 19 November 2007; Revised 24 January 2008; Accepted 28 January 2008; Published online 6 March 2008.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of 19–24 nucleotide noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) with posttranscriptional regulatory functions. Increasing evidences from the literature show that miRNAs play a pivotal role in human tumorigenesis. Many studies have addressed the role of miRNAs in normal hematopoiesis, giving an interpretative key to the aberrancies of expression observed in human hematological malignancies. Moreover, the recent demonstration that other ncRNAs, the ultraconserved genes (UCGs) or transcribed ultraconserved regions (T-UCRs), are involved in human cancerogenesis, suggests that the wider family of ncRNAs (including both miRNAs and UCGs) could contribute to the development of the malignant phenotype. Here we review the main studies investigating the role of miRNAs and UCRs in both normal hemopoiesis and hematological malignancies, and identify the molecular, clinical and therapeutic implications of these recent findings.