TY - JOUR T1 - MiR-135a biogenesis and regulation in malignancy: a new hope for cancer research and therapy JF - Cancer Biology and Medicine JO - Cancer Biol Med SP - 569 LP - 582 DO - 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2020.0033 VL - 17 IS - 3 AU - Zhe Cao AU - Jiangdong Qiu AU - Gang Yang AU - Yueze Liu AU - Wenhao Luo AU - Lei You AU - Lianfang Zheng AU - Taiping Zhang Y1 - 2020/08/15 UR - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/17/3/569.abstract N2 - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are evolutionarily conserved small non-coding RNAs that affect posttranscriptional regulation by binding to the 3′-untranslated region of target messenger RNAs. MiR-135a is a critical miRNA that regulates gene expression, and many studies have focused on its function in cancer research. MiR-135a is dysregulated in various cancers and regulates cancer cell proliferation and invasion via several signaling pathways, such as the MAPK and JAK2/STAT3 pathways. MiR-135a has also been found to promote or inhibit the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and chemoresistance in different cancers. Several studies have discovered the value of miR-135a as a novel biomarker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. These studies have suggested the potential of therapeutically manipulating miR-135a to improve the outcome of cancer patients. Although these findings have demonstrated the role of miR-135a in cancer progression and clinical applications, a number of questions remain to be answered, such as the dual functional roles of miR-135a in cancer. In this review, we summarize the available studies regarding miR-135a and cancer, including background on the biogenesis and expression of miR-135a in cancer and relevant signaling pathways involved in miR-135a-mediated tumor progression. We also focus on the clinical application of miR-135a as a biomarker in diagnosis and as a therapeutic agent or target in cancer treatment, which will provide a greater level of insight into the translational value of miR-135a. ER -