MicroRNAs in Determining the Subtype Specific Treatment Regimens for Breast Cancer Baruah M. Meghna1, Sharma Neeti2 1Research Scholar, Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India 2Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India Online published on 29 December, 2017. Abstract Introduction Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-protein coding endogenous small single-stranded RNAs which were originally discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans. They are evolutionarily conserved in nature and are also found in eukaryotes including human. Depending upon the level of complementarity between the miRNA and its target mRNA there can be two regulatory mechanisms namely degradation of target messenger RNA or translational inhibition. Various studies have shown that miRNAs serve as molecular signature to classify the subtypes of breast cancer. The intrinsic subtype properties of the primary tumor play a role in determining the treatment regimen for breast cancer. Thus investigating the myriad of miRNA expression would enhance the understanding of the role played by specific miRNAs in breast cancer and those can be used as therapeutic targets for treating breast cancer. Purpose To determine the role played by particular miRNAs in regulating the molecular mechanism involved in breast cancer metastasis. Research Design Meta-analysis of previously published research data has been used to generate a comprehensive list of differently expressed miRNAs in various subtypes of breast cancer. “miRTarBase”, “miRDB”, “TargetScan” was used to identify the target genes of different miRNAs in breast cancer. Pathway analysis will be done using “Panther” and “KEGG”. Results & discussion Various aberrantly expressed and subtype specific miRNAs in breast cancer metastasis with respect to their target genes were identified viz., let-7c-SUV39H2, miR-10a-HOXA3, etc. Further analysis of the signaling pathways will be carried out to understand the role of identified miRNA in defining breast cancer subtypes. Research implications: Breast cancer subtype specific novel miRNAs exhibiting a differential expression pattern were identified which can have feasible applications in both basic and clinical research. Novelty Various novel miRNA-mRNA targets were identified which can be used as diagnostic markers for classifying breast cancer subtypes. Top Keywords Breast cancer, MicroRNA, Subtype, Therapy. Top |