The role of MiRNA-433 in malignant tumors of digestive tract as tumor suppressor

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs with a length of approximate 22 nuclei acids that can be expressed both as an oncogene and tumor suppressor gene in human cancers. MiRNAs can participate in the post- transcriptional regulation of gene expression, and regulate the several cancer-related processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, etc. Recent findings Expression of miRNA-433 has been reported to vary in different tumors and affected by various factors. We have summarized the different previous studies and found that miRNA-433 can significantly inhibit the growth of the cancer cells not only in malignant tumors of the digestive tract, but also in lung cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, renal carcinoma, glioma, retinoblastoma and osteosarcoma. Conclusion When the expression of miRNA-433 was up-regulated, the proliferation, metastasis and invasion abilities of the malignant tumor cells were significantly inhibited. At the same time, the potential mechanisms through which miRNA-433 can suppress the growth and metastasis of the cancer cells were found to be basically the same, and involved modulation of the specific signaling pathways or target genes in the malignant tumors. Overall, it can be concluded that miRNA-433 can serve as potential and valuable therapeutic target.