MicroRNA Might be Responsible for Tumour Development

The discovery of a micro-molecule which regulates the activity of the p53 protein that protects cells against cancer could have an important significance in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

The molecule in question is in fact a type of microRNA, which are abundant in the cell and regulate the quantity of proteins produced by RNA strands, proteins that determine the unique characteristics of every cell type.

MicroRNA-125b, as the researcher found out after tests conducted on zebrafish, keeps the level of p53 low to avoid excessive cell death during embryonic development; the molecule’s level is reduced to allow an increase in p53, which eliminates damaged cells and thus preventing tumor formation if the DNA is damaged. Combined with the fact that high levels of this microRNA are found many types of human cancers, these findings could lead to the conclusion that it may contribute to the formation of tumors by suppressing the p53 protein.

The researchers, a joint team of Singapore and U.S. scientists, are excited about these findings, stating that the understatement of how exactly this molecule works could lead to the development of new drugs that could treat diseases for which no effective treatment exists right now, primarily cancers.