The diverse oncogenic and tumor suppressor roles of microRNA-105 in cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding small RNA molecules that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional/translational level. They act a considerable role not only in the normal progress of development but also in aberrant human diseases, including malignancy. With accumulating proofs of miR-105, the complex role of miR-105 during cancer initiation and progression is gradually emerging. miR-105 acts as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting tumor growth and metastasis or as an oncogene by promoting tumor initiation and invasion, depending on particular tumor contexts and base-pairing genes. In this review, we emphasize the characteristics of miR-105 in cancer to elucidate various deadly tumors and discuss transcriptional regulations that may explain fluctuations in miR-105 expression. This review may provide new ideas for applying miR-105 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.