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Deregulation of microRNA expression in thyroid neoplasias

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 10, pages 88–101 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Key Points

  • MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have a fundamental role in the onset and progression of human cancers, including thyroid neoplasias; the deregulation of miRNA expression seems to be a crucial event in thyroid carcinogenesis

  • Thyroid neoplasias are among the most frequent endocrine malignancies and can be distinguished from benign hyperplastic nodules on the basis of their distinctive miRNA expression profile

  • miRNA signatures could be used as an additional tool for the diagnosis of thyroid neoplasias

  • Previous studies have associated several miRNAs with a poor prognosis in human neoplasias; hence, the miRNA expression profile might be used to predict clinical outcome in patients with thyroid malignancies

  • New strategies for the treatment of patients with thyroid malignancies could implement inhibition or restoration of the expression levels of deregulated miRNAs

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as a class of powerful gene expression regulators. Acting at the post-transcriptional level, miRNAs modulate the expression of at least one-third of the mRNAs that are encoded by the human genome. The expression of a single gene can be regulated by several miRNAs, and every miRNA has more than one target gene. Thus, the miRNA regulatory circuit, which affects essential cellular functions, is of enormous complexity. Moreover, a fundamental role for miRNAs has been determined in the onset and progression of human cancers. Here, we summarize the main alterations in miRNA expression that have been identified in thyroid neoplasias and examine the mechanisms through which miRNA deregulation might promote thyroid cell transformation. We also discuss how the emerging knowledge on miRNA deregulation could be harnessed for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid neoplasias.

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Figure 1: Classification of human thyroid carcinomas and subtype-specific genetic alterations.
Figure 2: Deregulated microRNA (miRNA) networks in thyroid carcinomas.

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Acknowledgements

The authors' work was supported by grants from AIRC (I G 5346). We are grateful to Prof. Carlo Maria Croce, Ohio State University, for his continuous support. We are grateful to Jean Ann Gilder (Scientific Communication SRL, Naples, Italy) for substantial language and structural editing of this article; this edit had no influence on the choice or interpretation of the scientific content presented in this Review.

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  1. c/o Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche (DMMBM), Istituto per l'Endocrinologia e l'Oncologia Sperimentale (IEOS) “G. Salvatore”, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, via Pansini 5, Naples, 80131, Italy

    Pierlorenzo Pallante, Sabrina Battista, Giovanna Maria Pierantoni & Alfredo Fusco

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  1. Pierlorenzo Pallante
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P. Pallante, S. Battista, G. M. Pierantoni and A. Fusco researched the data for article. P. Pallante and A. Fusco provided a substantial contribution to discussions of the content. All authors contributed equally to writing the article.

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Correspondence to Alfredo Fusco.

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Pallante, P., Battista, S., Pierantoni, G. et al. Deregulation of microRNA expression in thyroid neoplasias. Nat Rev Endocrinol 10, 88–101 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2013.223

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