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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 7, 2018; 24(25): 2647-2660
Published online Jul 7, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i25.2647
Role of microRNAs in the main molecular pathways of hepatocellular carcinoma
Francesco Vasuri, Michela Visani, Giorgia Acquaviva, Thomas Brand, Michelangelo Fiorentino, Annalisa Pession, Giovanni Tallini, Antonia D’Errico, Dario de Biase
Francesco Vasuri, Michelangelo Fiorentino, Antonia D’Errico, Pathology Unit, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna 40138, Italy
Michela Visani, Giorgia Acquaviva, Giovanni Tallini, Department of Medicine (Dipartimento di Medicina Specialistica, Diagnostica e Sperimentale), Molecular Diagnostic Unit, Azienda USL di Bologna, University of Bologna - School of Medicine, Bologna 40138, Italy
Thomas Brand, Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology (Dipartimento di Farmacia e Biotecnologie), University of Bologna, Bologna 40127, Italy
Annalisa Pession, Dario de Biase, Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology (Dipartimento di Farmacia e Biotecnologie), Molecular Diagnostic Unit, Azienda USL di Bologna, University of Bologna, Bologna 40138, Italy
Author contributions: Vasuri F, Visani M, Acquaviva G and de Biase D contributed to review conception and design, drafting of the manuscript, final approval of the manuscript; Fiorentino M, Pession A, Tallini G and D’Errico A contributed to review conception and design, critical revisions of important intellectual content of the manuscript, final approval of the manuscript; Brand T performs language editing and final approval of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interest related to the submitted manuscript.
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: Michela Visani, PhD, Molecular Pathology Unit, Department of Medicine (Dipartimento di Medicina Specialistica, Diagnostica e Sperimentale), School of Medicine, Bologna University, Viale Ercolani 4/2, Bologna 40138, Italy. michela.visani@unibo.it
Telephone: +39-51-2144717 Fax: +39-51-6363682
Received: March 28, 2018
Peer-review started: March 29, 2018
First decision: May 9, 2018
Revised: May 18, 2018
Accepted: June 16, 2018
Article in press: June 16, 2018
Published online: July 7, 2018
Processing time: 98 Days and 17.4 Hours
Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignant neoplasia. HCC is characterized by a poor prognosis. The need to find new molecular markers for its diagnosis and prognosis has led to a progressive increase in the number of scientific studies on this topic. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA that play a role in almost all main cellular pathways. miRNAs are involved in the regulation of expression of the major tumor-related genes in carcinogenesis, acting as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. The aim of this review was to identify papers published in 2017 investigating the role of miRNAs in HCC tumorigenesis. miRNAs were classified according to their role in the main molecular pathways involved in HCC tumorigenesis: (1) mTOR; (2) Wnt; (3) JAK/STAT; (4) apoptosis; and (5) MAPK. The role of miRNAs in prognosis/response prediction was taken into consideration. Bearing in mind that the analysis of miRNAs in serum and other body fluids would be crucial for clinical management, the role of circulating miRNAs in HCC patients was also investigated. The most represented miRNA-regulated pathway in HCC is mTOR, but apoptosis, Wnt, JAK/STAT or MAPK pathways are also influenced by miRNA expression levels. These miRNAs could thus be used in clinical practice as diagnostic, prognostic or therapeutic targets for HCC treatment.

Keywords: MicroRNA; Molecular pathway; mTOR; Prognosis; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Review

Core tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver neoplasia and is characterized by a poor prognosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the regulation of expression of the major tumor-related pathways in carcinogenesis and may act as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. mTOR is the most represented miRNA-regulated pathway in HCC. miRNAs found to be deregulated in HCC could be used in clinical practice as diagnostic, prognostic or therapeutic targets.