MicroRNA-200 family (miR-200 family)

The MicroRNA-200 (miR-200) family is a group of five highly conserved microRNAs (miR-200a, miR-200b, miR-200c, miR-141, and miR-429) that are essential regulators of the epithelial phenotype (Gregory et al., 2008). They function primarily by suppressing the expression of the E-cadherin transcriptional repressors ZEB1 and ZEB2, thereby inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process critical for cancer metastasis and fibrosis (Park et al., 2008; Korpal et al., 2008). In many epithelial-derived cancers, the miR-200 family is frequently downregulated, which correlates with increased invasiveness and resistance to conventional therapies (Brabletz & Brabletz, 2010). Conversely, their expression is sometimes upregulated during the mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) required for metastatic colonization in distant organs. Therapeutic approaches involve the use of synthetic miR-200 mimics to restore tumor-suppressive functions or antagomirs to block their activity in specific pathological contexts. Despite their therapeutic potential, challenges remain regarding the precise delivery of these RNA-based molecules to target tissues and the avoidance of off-target effects (Humphries & Yang, 2015).

Other names

miR-200 clustermiR-200a/b/c/141/429MicroRNA 200miR-200

Post-transcriptional gene silencing via binding to the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of target mRNAs, particularly ZEB1 and ZEB2, to inhibit translation or induce mRNA degradation.