The role of microRNAs in the adrenocortical carcinomas

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small, non-protein-coding RNAs that inhibit gene expressions through binding their 3'-UTR regions. Each miRNA can regulate a number of target genes and play crucial roles in a lot of biological processes including organogenesis, hematopoiesis, cell development, proliferation, and invasion. Deregulated expression of miRNAs has been found to be associated with initiation and development of tumors. Increasing evidences showed that miRNAs play a crucial role in adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs). Aberrant miRNA expression may contribute to ACC carcinogenesis, and it can act as tumor-suppressive or oncogenic miRNAs. In this review, we reviewed the recent studies available on ACC-associated miRNAs. We try to summarize the contribution of miRNAs to the initiation and development of ACCs.