Micro RNAs as a new therapeutic target towards leukaemia signalling

Abstract

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as potentially useful and specific agents to regulate transcriptional control of many cellular genes. There is a real prospect that miRNA and other short-length RNA reagents could be useful in a therapeutic setting. Here we outline the control of miRNAs in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) subtype of human leukaemia, and ask whether miRNA could be important either in the generation of an AML phenotype, or as a variety of agents to combat the disease in the clinic. The use of miRNAs as potential biomarkers of aberrant signalling pathways involved in AML oncogenesis is also discussed.