Effects of MIR143 on rat sarcoma signaling networks in solid tumors: A brief overview

Rat sarcoma (RAS) is a well-known oncogene that plays important roles in cancer proliferation, cell survival and cell invasion. RAS exists as three major isoforms, Kirsten rat sarcoma (KRAS), Harvey rat sarcoma (HRAS) and neuroblastoma rat sarcoma (NRAS). Mutations of these genes account for approximately 30% of all cancers. Among them, KRAS mutations are the most common, responsible for 85%, followed by NRAS (12%) and HRAS (3%). Although the development of RAS inhibitors has been explored for over the past decade, so far, no effective inhibitor has been found. MicroRNA (miRNA) are a class of small non-coding RNA that control the gene expression of pleural target genes at the post-transcriptional level. MiRNA play critical roles in the physiological and pathological processes at work in cancers, such as cell proliferation, cell death, cell invasion and metastasis. MicroRNA-143 (MIR143) is known to function as a tumor suppressor in a variety of cancers. One of its known mechanisms is suppression of RAS expression and its effector signaling pathways, such as PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK. Within the last five years, we developed a potent chemically modified MIR143-3p that enabled us to elucidate the details of the KRAS signaling networks at play in colon and other cancer cells. In this review, we will discuss the role of MIR143-3p in those RAS signaling networks that are related to various biological processes of cancer cells. In addition, we will discuss the possibility of the use of MIR143 as a therapeutic drug for targeting RAS signaling networks.