Lung Cancer: MicroRNA and Target Database

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that hybridize to mRNAs and induce either translation repression or mRNA cleavage. Recently, it has been reported that miRNAs could possibly play a critical role in cellular processes like regulation of cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis, emphasizing their role in tumorigenesis. Likewise, several miRNA's are involved in lung cancer tumorigenesis. The present review puts forth a database of human miRNA's involved in lung cancer along with their target genes. It also provides sequences of miRNA's and their chromosomal locations retrieved from different databases like microCosm (218 microRNAs), PhenomiR (293 microRNAs), and mir2Disease (90 microRNAs) and target gene information such as the pathways like cell cycle regulation, angiogenesis, apoptosis etc. Though miRNA's are still to be explored, they hold a promise as therapeutic targets and diagnostic markers of cancer.