MicroRNAs in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Process of Cancer: Potential Targets for Chemotherapy

In the last decades, a kind of small non-coding RNA molecules, called as microRNAs, has been applied as negative regulators in various types of cancer treatment through down-regulation of their targets. More recent studies exert that microRNAs play a critical role in the EMT process of cancer, promoting or inhibiting EMT progression. Interestingly, accumulating evidence suggests that pure compounds from natural plants could modulate deregulated microRNAs to inhibit EMT, resulting in the inhibition of cancer development. This small essay is on the purpose of demonstrating the significance and function of microRNAs in the EMT process as oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes according to studies mainly conducted in the last four years, providing evidence of efficient target therapy. The review also summarizes the drug candidates with the ability to restrain EMT in cancer through microRNA regulation.