Systems Biology Of Micrornas In Cancer

This book provides an update on the latest development in the field of microRNAs in cancer research with an emphasis on translational research. Since the early 2000s, microRNAs have been recognized as important and ubiquitous regulators of gene expression. Soon it became evident that their deregulation can cause human diseases including cancer. This book focuses on the emerging opportunities for the application of microRNA research in clinical practice. In this context, computer models are presented that can help to identify novel biomarkers, e.g. in circulating microRNAs, and tools that can help to design microRNA-based therapeutic interventions. Other chapters evaluate the role of microRNAs in immunotherapy, immune responses and drug resistance. Covering key topics on microRNAs in cancer research this book is a valuable resource for both emerging and established microRNA researchers who want to explore the potential of microRNAs as therapeutic targets or co-adjuvants in cancer therapies.

This edited reflects the current state of knowledge about the role of microRNAs in the formation and progression of solid tumours. The main focus lies on computational methods and applications, together with cutting edge experimental techniques that are used to approach all aspects of microRNA regulation in cancer. We are sure that the emergence of high-throughput quantitative techniques will make this integrative approach absolutely necessary in the near future. This book will be a resource for researchers starting out with cancer microRNA research, but is also intended for the experienced researcher who wants to incorporate concepts and tools from systems biology and bioinformatics into his work. Bioinformaticians and modellers are provided with a general perspective on microRNA biology in cancer, and the state-of-the-art in computational microRNA biology.

The tiny microRNAs (miRNAs) can have huge impacts on the regulation of a variety of genes and play crucial roles in the fundamental cellular processes. Recent miRNA studies change the landscape of cancer genetics by scrutinizing the alterations of genome-wide miRNA expressions in most common cancers and their regulatory functions during the development of cancer. The connections between miRNAs and cancer are widespread enough to warrant more comprehensive investigations in the systems biology perspective. In MicroRNA and Cancer: Methods and Protocols, internationally renowned experts provide the latest miRNA knowledge, the various techniques and methodologies currently available for cancer research application. Ranging from the fundamental concepts to practical applications, this book presents: • Overview of microRNA biogenesis, computational prediction of new miRNAs in the cancer genome, and miRNA-based therapeutic approaches for cancer treatment • Detailed experimental protocols in miRNA detection with novel and high-throughput technology, miRNA library cloning, miRNA epigenetic regulation, and miRNA pathway study • Stepwise computational and bioinformatic procedures for miRNA complex networks in cancer genomes with a variety of softwares and programs • Cross-cited notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls Authoritative and cutting-edge, MicroRNA and Cancer: Methods and Protocols serves researchers with the basic principles of experimental and computational methods for microRNA study in cancer research and provides a firm grounding for those who wish to further develop their own applications and tailor them to their own specific research needs.

Systems Biology in Cancer Research and Drug Discovery provides a unique collection of chapters, by world-class researchers, describing the use of integrated systems biology and network modeling in the cancer field where traditional tools have failed to deliver expected promise. This book touches four applications/aspects of systems biology (i) in understanding aberrant signaling in cancer (ii) in identifying biomarkers and prognostic markers especially focused on angiogenesis pathways (iii) in unwinding microRNAs complexity and (iv) in anticancer drug discovery and in clinical trial design. This book reviews the state-of-the-art knowledge and touches upon cutting edge newer and improved applications especially in the area of network modeling. It is aimed at an audience ranging from students, academics, basic researcher and clinicians in cancer research. This book is expected to benefit the field of translational cancer medicine by bridging the gap between basic researchers, computational biologists and clinicians who have one ultimate goal and that is to defeat cancer.

MicroRNA (miRNA) biology is a cutting-edge topic in basic as well as biomedical research. This is a specialized book focusing on the current understanding of the role of miRNAs in the development, progression, invasion, and metastasis of diverse types of cancer. It also reviews their potential for applications in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic targets as well as the potential use in translational medicine. Chapters present comprehensive and expert perspectives on the roles of miRNAs in most common cancers from bench to bedside applications and are written by an international team of renowned experts in the field.

This book presents current advances in the emerging interdisciplinary field of microRNA research of human cancers from a unique perspective of quantitative sciences: bioinformatics, computational and systems biology, and mathematical modeling. This volume contains adaptations and critical reviews of recent state-of-the-art studies, ranging from technological advances in microRNA detection and profiling, clinically oriented microRNA profiling in several human cancers, to a systems biology analysis of global patterns of microRNA regulation of signaling and metabolic pathways. Interactions with transcription factor regulatory networks and mathematical modeling of microRNA regulation are also discussed.

The field of microRNA biology is really emerging in the last couple of years. Several investigators highlighted the importance of miRNAs in cancer. Although there is so much literature on microRNAs exist, a comprehensive book is still not available. Thus this book will be a great use to the scientists in the field of cancer biology. In addition, this book will be a good source of information for undergraduate, graduate students who want to develop their research careers in cancer biology.

Since the discovery of the Warburg effect in the 1920s cancer has been tightly associated with the genetic and metabolic state of the cell. One of the hallmarks of cancer is the alteration of the cellular metabolism in order to promote proliferation and undermine cellular defense mechanisms such as apoptosis or detection by the immune system. However, the strategies by which this is achieved in different cancers and sometimes even in different patients of the same cancer is very heterogeneous, which hinders the design of general treatment options. Recently, there has been an ongoing effort to study this phenomenon on a genomic scale in order to understand the causality underlying the disease. Hence, current “omics” technologies have contributed to identify and monitor different biological pieces at different biological levels, such as genes, proteins or metabolites. These technological capacities have provided us with vast amounts of clinical data where a single patient may often give rise to various tissue samples, each of them being characterized in detail by genomescale data on the sequence, expression, proteome and metabolome level. Data with such detail poses the imminent problem of extracting meaningful interpretations and translating them into specific treatment options. To this purpose, Systems Biology provides a set of promising computational tools in order to decipher the mechanisms driving a healthy cell’s metabolism into a cancerous one. However, this enterprise requires bridging the gap between large data resources, mathematical analysis and modeling specifically designed to work with the available data. This is by no means trivial and requires high levels of communication and adaptation between the experimental and theoretical side of research.