Microenvironment Regulates Tumor Suppressor miRNA

(April 2, 2015) According to a study published in the journal Oncogene, the tumor microenvironment can regulate tumor suppressor miRNA in ovarian cancer cells. The direct interaction of the ovarian cancer cells with mesothelial cells, which cover the surface of the omentum, caused methylation mediated decrease in the expression of miR-193b in the tumor cells. The reduction in miR-193b in the tumor cells enabled the metastasizing cancer cells to invade and proliferate in the human omentum. Targeting miR-193b could prove effective in the treatment of ovarian cancer metastasis.

The study was published in the ovarian cancer laboratory at the University of Chicago by the research group of Ernst Lengyel, M.D., Ph.D., a previous OCRF grantee and current Scientific Advisory Committee member.

Click here to read the abstract.