The following is a summary of “Inhibitory role of microRNA-141-3p in human cutaneous melanoma growth and metastasis through the fibroblast growth factor 13-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase axis,” published in the December 2023 issue of Dermatology by Yang, et al.
Human cutaneous melanoma (CM) is a very aggressive cancer that starts in melanocytes and is becoming more common and killing more people around the world. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are interesting because they can control the biological processes of CM cells, which leads to the violent development of CM. Still, a full understanding of the basic process is hard to come by. For a study, researchers sought to determine what effect miR-141-3p had in human CM cells when it works with FGF13 and the MAPK pathway.
First, patterns of miR-141-3p expression were found in human CM tissues and cell lines. The targeting link between miR-141-3p and FGF13 was also confirmed. After that, miR-141-3p’s loss- and gain-of-function tests were done to figure out what part miR-141-3p plays in making CM cells cancerous. Their results showed that FGF13 was highly expressed while miR-141-3p was not highly expressed in the CM tissues and cells. More research showed that miR-141-3p targets the gene FGF13.
Overexpression of miR-141-3p, on the other hand, stopped CM cells from multiplying, spreading, and migrating. It also increased their death and decreased the activity of genes linked to the FGF13 and MAPK pathways. Their results showed that miR-141-3p can stop CM cells from becoming cancerous by messing up the FGF13-dependent MAPK pathway. It suggested a possible way to treat human CM.
