Editor's Summary
11 October 2007
MicroRNA and metastasis
A microRNA that may facilitate the movement of cells from one part of the embryo to another in its normal role has been found to be highly expressed in aggressive human breast cancers and to mediate breast cancer cell migration, invasion and metastasis. MicroRNAs, naturally occurring single-stranded RNA molecules involved in gene regulation, have been implicated previously in causing cancers, but this is the first report of a link to metastasis. The functional target of the microRNA appears to be the HOXD10 gene, one of the Hox gene family involved in directing embryo development.
News and Views: Cancer: Micromanagement of metastasis
Although they were discovered only in the early 1990s, many regulatory functions of microRNAs — naturally occurring short RNA sequences — have already been reported. The latest news is that they mediate cancer spread.
Patricia S. Steeg
doi:10.1038/449671a
Article: Tumour invasion and metastasis initiated by microRNA-10b in breast cancer
Li Ma, Julie Teruya-Feldstein & Robert A. Weinberg
doi:10.1038/nature06174
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (963K) | Supplementary information
