ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an up-to-date understanding on the therapeutic potential of dysregulated micro ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) in human cancers and attempts to modulate their expression level in cancer cells for the development of therapeutically promising strategies in cancer treatment. As cancer cells exhibit changes in multiple pathways, use of miRNA treatment to affect these pathways simultaneously can have promising therapeutic benefits. Anti-miRNA oligonucleotides designed to reduce levels of a specific miRNA often use chemically stable RNA analogs to avoid RNA degradation. Artificial formulations using polymers, lipids, and inorganic nanoparticles are promising choices for non-viral delivery of miRNAs to avoid many side-effects of viral delivery involving genotoxic risk and immunogenic response. Tissue-specific targeting can lower the risk of side effects by limiting the effects of the drug to targeted disease cells. Surface modification by these RNA nanoparticles also can allow for exosome-mediated targeted delivery.
