MicroRNAs and dendritic cell-based vaccination in melanoma patients

MicroRNAs are increasingly being recognized to play an important role in finely tuning gene expression; therefore, their dysregulation in cancer has been investigated extensively. In terms of melanoma, they are involved in the regulation of many genes and pathways impacting invasiveness, dissemination, and disease progression. Many microRNAs also target genes regulating ontogenesis and functions of the immune system. Indeed, fine-tuning of gene expression by microRNAs is necessary for normal differentiation of the various components of the immune system and for mounting an effective innate and cell-mediated response, which has been shown to be able to control tumor growth. Dendritic cells, by presenting antigens to and activating naive T cells, constitute a critical aspect and have been therefore been used in many studies of cancer vaccination with promising results. Many genes regulating functions and plasticity of dendritic cells are indeed targeted by microRNAs, whose expression is also dependent on maturation status. Therefore, microRNAs could provide new potential therapeutic targets both on the tumor and on the immune system, and could also be used to characterize dendritic cells utilized in immunotherapy trials.