MicroRNAs as the pivotal regulators of cisplatin resistance in head and neck cancers

Abstract Although, there is a high rate of good prognosis in early stage head and neck tumors, about half of these tumors are detected in advanced stages with poor prognosis. A combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery is the treatment option in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Although, cisplatin (CDDP) as the first-line drug has a significant role in the treatment of HNC patients, CDDP resistance can be observed in a large number of these patients. Therefore, identification of the molecular mechanisms involved in CDDP resistance can help to reduce the side effects and also provides a better therapeutic management. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as the post-transcriptional regulators play an important role in drug resistance. Therefore, in the present review we investigated the role of miRNAs in CDDP response of head and neck tumors. It has been reported that the miRNAs exerted their roles in CDDP response by regulation of signaling pathways such as WNT, NOTCH, PI3K/AKT, TGF-β, and NF-kB as well as apoptosis, autophagy, and EMT process. The present review paves the way to suggest a non-invasive miRNA based panel marker for the prediction of CDDP response among HNC patients. Therefore, such diagnostic miRNA based panel marker reduces the CDDP side effects and improves the clinical outcomes of these patients following an efficient therapeutic management

Non-coding RNA profile for natural killer cell activity

Natural killer cells (NK cells) are a type of cytotoxic lymphocytes which are involved in innate immunity, alongside with assisting with adaptive immune response. Since they have cytotoxic effects, disruptions in their functionality and development leads to a variety of conditions, whether malignant or non-malignant. The profile and interaction of these non-coding RNAs and NK cells in different conditions is extensively studied, and it is now approved that if dysregulated, non-coding RNAs have detrimental effects on NK cell activity and can contribute to the pathogenesis of diverse disorders. In this review, we aim at a thorough inspection on the role of different non-coding RNAs on the activity and development of NK cells, in a broad spectrum of conditions, including blood-related disorders, viral infections, neurological diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, lung disorders, reproductive system conditions and other types of maladies, alongside with providing insight to the future non-coding RNA-NK cell studies