
pmid: 23592905
pmc: PMC3626990
microRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous, single-stranded non-coding RNAs of 20-23 nucleotides in length, functioning as negative regulators of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. The dysregulation of miRNAs has been demonstrated to play critical roles in tumorigenesis, either through inhibiting tumor suppressor genes or activating oncogenes inappropriately. Besides their promising clinical applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment, recent studies have uncovered that miRNAs could act as a regulatory language, through which messenger RNAs, transcribed pseudogenes, and long noncoding RNAs crosstalk with each other and form a novel regulatory network. RNA transcripts involved in this network have been termed as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), since they influence each other's level by competing for the same pool of miRNAs through miRNA response elements (MREs) on their target transcripts. The discovery of miRNA-ceRNA network not only provides the possibility of an additional level of post-transcriptional regulation, but also dictates a reassessment of the existing regulatory pathways involved in cancer initiation and progression.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 76 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
