Figure 2.

Schematic overview of miRNA therapeutic strategies to regulate the function of oncogenic and tumor suppressor miRNAs involved in cancer. (Top Panel): The strategy of miRNA therapeutics is based on restoring the balance of oncogenic miRNAs and tumor suppressor miRNAs. This involves downregulating the expression of oncomir RNAs (oncomirs) or upregulating the expression of tumor suppressor miRNAs. (Bottom panel): Therapeutic manipulations involving miRNAs can target the expression or function of pathologically significant miRNAs through various approaches. These methods include miRNA inhibitors (antagomirs or antimirs) that degrade or block the function of endogenous miRNAs, synthetic miRNA mimics that replicate endogenous miRNA functions, miRNAs expressed via viral vectors, small-molecule inhibitors that disrupt miRNA biogenesis, or miRNA sponges that functionally inhibit endogenous miRNAs by diverting them from their mRNA targets. Moreover, combining miRNAs with chemotherapies, immunotherapies, other traditional drugs or therapies, or siRNAs represents an additional strategy to counter drug resistance. Created with BioRender.com (accessed on 16 January 2024).