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Updated: Oct 15, 2025

Genome-wide Screen for miRNA Targets Using the MISSION Target ID Library
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Genome-wide Screen for miRNA Targets Using the MISSION Target ID Library

Published on: April 6, 2012

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MicroRNA Isoforms Contribution to Melanoma Pathogenesis

Elisabetta Broseghini1, Emi Dika1,2, Eric Londin3

  • 1Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.

Non-Coding RNA
|October 26, 2021
PubMed

Insights

MicroRNA variants called isomiRs are dysregulated in melanoma compared to benign nevi. This finding reveals specific isomiR patterns in cutaneous melanoma (CM) progression and metastasis.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular biology
  • Cancer research
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is an aggressive skin cancer with increasing incidence.
  • MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial in melanoma pathogenesis.
  • MicroRNA isoforms (isomiRs) represent a new layer of regulatory complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To comprehensively characterize miRNA and isomiR dysregulation in benign nevi (BN) and early-stage melanomas.
  • To analyze isomiR expression in primary melanoma versus metastasis using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data.
  • To investigate the association of isomiR expression with NF1, BRAF, and NRAS mutations in melanoma.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data for small-RNA expression.
  • Comparison of isomiR profiles between benign nevi and cutaneous melanoma.
  • Utilized The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset for melanoma metastasis analysis.

Main Results:

  • Benign nevi and melanoma exhibit distinct and specific isomiR expression profiles and abundance distributions.
  • IsomiRs derived from the same miRNA can display opposing expression trends between benign nevi and melanoma.
  • Differential expression of isomiRs was identified in primary melanoma and metastasis, with associations to specific mutations.

Conclusions:

  • Specific isomiRs are non-randomly dysregulated in cutaneous melanoma, contributing to disease pathogenesis.
  • IsomiR profiling offers insights into the complex molecular landscape of melanoma.
  • Identified isomiRs serve as potential biomarkers for further functional investigation and clinical application.
Keywords:
TCGAisomiRmelanomanext generation sequencing

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