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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 7, 2016; 22(5): 1787-1799
Published online Feb 7, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i5.1787
MicroRNA aberrations: An emerging field for gallbladder cancer management
Vishal Chandra, Jong Joo Kim, Balraj Mittal, Rajani Rai
Vishal Chandra, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, United States
Vishal Chandra, Department of Biosciences, Integral University, Lucknow 226026 (UP), India
Jong Joo Kim, Rajani Rai, School of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, South Korea
Balraj Mittal, Department of Genetics, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226014, India
Author contributions: Chandra V and Kim JJ are co-first author, equally contributed to this paper; all authors contributed to this paper with the conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Rajani Rai, School of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, South Korea. rajani19@ynu.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-53-810-3027 Fax: +82-53-810-4769
Received: October 6, 2015
Peer-review started: October 8, 2015
First decision: November 5, 2015
Revised: November 12, 2015
Accepted: December 21, 2015
Article in press: December 21, 2015
Published online: February 7, 2016
Abstract

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is infrequent but most lethal biliary tract malignancy characterized by an advanced stage diagnosis and poor survival rates attributed to absence of specific symptoms and effective treatment options. These necessitate development of early prognostic/predictive markers and novel therapeutic interventions. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNA molecules that play a key role in tumor biology by functioning like tumor suppressor- or onco- genes and their aberrant expression are associated with the pathogenesis of several neoplasms with overwhelming clinical implications. Since miRNA signature is tissue specific, here, we focused on current data concerning the miRNAs abberations in GBC pathogenesis. In GBC, miRNAs with tumor suppressor activity (miR-135-5p, miR-335, miR-34a, miR-26a, miR-146b-5p, Mir-218-5p, miR-1, miR-145, mir-130a) were found downregulated, while those with oncogenic property (miR-20a, miR-182, mir-155) were upregulated. The expression profile of miRNAs was significantly associated with GBC prognosis and prediction, and forced over-expression/ inhibition of these miRNAs was shown to affect tumor growth and development. Further, differential expression of miRNAs in the blood samples of GBC patients suggest miRNAs as promising noninvasive biomarker. Thus, miRNAs represent potential candidate for GBC management, though many hurdles need to be overcome before miRNAs therapy can be clinically applied to GBC prevention and treatment.

Keywords: Gallbladder cancer, MicroRNA, Aberrations, Tumor suppressor gene, Oncogene, Biomarker, Therapy

Core tip: Emerging evidences have shown a clear link between microRNAs (miRNAs) expression profile and carcinogenesis. In addition, miRNA has been shown a promising biomarker with devastating clinical implications in various cancer. Recently, several studies have investigated miRNA signature or dysregulation in gallbladder cancer (GBC) pathogenesis. In this review, we aimed to amalgamate the available data to predict the clinical significance of miRNA aberration in GBC. Our findings suggested miRNAs as a promising biomarker and therapeutic tool for GBC management, however, there is a long way to go.