EN
ページタイトル画像

Functional Genomics

Overview

The achievements of the Human Genome Project not only provided an enormous amount of sequence data, but also diversified research in molecular biology. Sequencing of the human genome has demonstrated that a significant portion of the human genome is transcribed into RNA molecules that do not code for proteins. This class of RNA is termed ‘noncoding RNAs’. In the past several years, an accumulating body of evidence has shown that aberrantly expressed noncoding RNAs are deeply involved in a variety of human pathologic processes including cancers.

Associate Professor:
Naohiko Seki

TEL: +81-43-226-2971
FAX: +81-43-226-2136
e-mail: naoseki●faculty.chiba-u.jp
URL: https://www.m.chiba-u.jp/dept/functionalgenomics/

※　Please change "●" mark to at-mark if you send emails.

43.jpg

Research & Education

microRNAs belong to a family of small noncoding RNAs that fine-tune the expression of protein coding/noncoding RNAs by repressing translation or cleaving RNA transcripts in a sequence-dependent manner. The discovery of microRNAs and subsequent studies have deepened our understanding of the roles of microRNA in human diseases. A unique characteristic of human microRNAs is that a single microRNA species can regulate a large number of RNA transcripts. Therefore, dysregulated microRNA expression can disrupt RNA networks that are otherwise tightly regulated. The starting point of microRNA studies has been to identify aberrantly expressed microRNAs in human cells.
　Our research group have created the microRNA expression signatures based on the RNA sequencing in various types of cancers, e.g., head and neck cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, and breast cancer. Analysis of our microRNA signatures revealed the oncogenic or antitumor microRNAs, and their microRNAs controlled novel cancer pathways.

43図.jpg

Recent Publications

  • Identification of Tumor-Suppressive miR-30e-3p Targets: Involvement of SERPINE1 in the Molecular Pathogenesis of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Minemura et al., Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Mar 30;23(7):3808. doi: 10.3390/ijms23073808.
  • Impact of miR-1/miR-133 Clustered miRNAs: PFN2 Facilitates Malignant Phenotypes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Asai et al., Biomedicines. 2022 Mar 12;10(3):663. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10030663.
  • RNA-Sequencing Based microRNA Expression Signature of Colorectal Cancer: The Impact of Oncogenic Targets Regulated by miR-490-3p. Hozaka et al., Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Sep 13;22(18):9876. doi: 10.3390/ijms22189876.
  • Molecular Pathogenesis and Regulation of the miR-29-3p-Family: Involvement of ITGA6 and ITGB1 in Intra-Hepatic Cholangiocarcinoma. Hozaka et al., Cancers (Basel). 2021 Jun 4;13(11):2804. doi: 10.3390/cancers13112804.
  • Molecular Pathogenesis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Impact of miR-30c-5p and miR-30c-2-3p Regulation on Oncogenic Genes. Tanaka et al., Cancers (Basel). 2020 Sep 23;12(10):2731. doi: 10.3390/cancers12102731.
  • FAM64A: A Novel Oncogenic Target of Lung Adenocarcinoma Regulated by Both Strands of miR-99a ( miR-99a-5p and miR-99a-3p). Mizuno et al., Cells. 2020 Sep 11;9(9):2083. doi: 10.3390/cells9092083.