Fig. 3.

Diagram depicting 3 simple pathways of miR-146-5p modulation of cancer phenotypes. The previously discussed NF-κB signaling pathway has been shown to be induce the metastatic phenotype of various breast cancer cells. Increased expression of miR-146a/b acts to block NF-κB signaling and thus reduces this metastatic potential. miR-146b also fine-tunes the cell’s response to growth factor stimulus in a cancer setting. Platelet-derived growth factor increases expression of miR-146b, which subsequently blocks epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling thereby halting metastatic growth. When miR-146a is lost due to a chromosomal abnormality (5q syndrome), aberrant expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) induces NF-κB signaling and increases cancer susceptibility.