Tag Archives: miRNA



Travel Grants Spring 2012 winner: Malay Bhattacharyya

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Jyoti M.. Filed under Conferences, Research, Travel grant

Congratulations to our second travel grant winner! Read on to find out how he uses NextBio Research to explore oncogenic microRNAs.In Malay’s words: 

I become truly amazed when I look back on my career and see how a student with undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Electronics turned into a biology researcher. In the very first week of graduate school, I received an article on microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of short non-coding regulators of protein-coding genes, from my supervisor. Ever since that first read, I have been hooked on these endogeneous RNAs for four years and counting.  Read more…

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Nicer with Dicer? Not always.

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Jyoti M.. Filed under Paper Trail, Research

Increases in Dicer gene expression improve some cancers and worsen others

Some of the tiniest players on the field, microRNAs (miRNAs) are short strands of RNA that work to control gene expression in several pathways. Though they don’t encode any proteins, miRNAs regulate genes involved in embryonic growth, cell differentiation, angiogenesis and other cellular processes. They have also gained steady prominence in cancer research, with several studies connecting abnormal miRNA regulation to cancer progression and metastasis in cell lines, animal models and samples from patients.

The potential diagnostic and therapeutic value of miRNAs has also turned attention to the molecules involved in making miRNAs in cells, particularly the enzyme Dicer. A recent study by Zhihai Ma and colleagues in PLoS One reports that higher Dicer expression correlates to more advanced stages of cutaneous melanoma, characterized by increased metastatic potential, tumor mitotic index, and other stages (as defined by the American Joint Committee on Cancer) .
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