MicroRNA 106b: Role in the reprograming of mitochondrial machinery and carcinogenesis in hepatic cells

Cancer is a disease of unregulated cell growth. The process of initiation and progression of cancer is called carcinogenesis and the factors possessing ability to induce carcinogenesis are called carcinogens. Along with the coding sequence, the non-coding sequence also play very crucial role in the process of carcinogenesis. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs having targets on both the classes of genes important in cancer i.e., oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes, thus act as key play in carcinogenesis. Dysfunctional mitochondrial metabolism has been widely reported in cancer and this malfunctioning could be brought in by suppression of the expression pattern of important mitochondrial genes by microRNAs. Our in-silico analysis revealed that miR 106b possess targets on several important mitochondrial genes involved in various complexes of electron transport chain. Further, we checked the role of miR 106b in reprogramming of the mitochondrial mechanism and carcinogenesis. The results suggested that miR 106b contributes to carcinogenesis in hepatic cells by modulating the mitochondrial metabolism.