the role of microrna-31 in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer

Mir-31 is critically involved in the initiation and progression of crc by regulating multiple pathways essential for tumorigenesis and influencing various cellular functions, such as proliferation, apoptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (emt), metastasis, and chemoresistance. mir-31 also impacts emt-related transcription factors such as zeb1, snail, and twist, which further facilitate the shift to a mesenchymal state, leading to increased invasiveness and metastatic spread of crc cells, commonly to organs like the liver, which worsens patient prognosis in the context of apoptosis, mir-31 inhibits pro-apoptotic factors such as bax and caspase-3, reducing programmed cell death and allowing cancer cells to survive longer this anti-apoptotic influence is essential for mir-31’s role in chemoresistance, as it enables cancer cells to evade the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy. interestingly, despite its primarily oncogenic role, mir-31 has shown context-dependent tumor-suppressive properties in specific genetic or environmental conditions under certain conditions, mir-31 may target oncogenes or reduce the activity of tumor-promoting pathways, although these instances are relatively rare and context-specific, influenced by factors like genetic mutations clinically, mir-31’s expression level is correlated with crc stage, metastatic capacity, and patient prognosis, indicating its potential utility as a biomarker for risk assessment and prognosis. elevated mir-31 levels are associated with advanced crc stages, increased tumor aggressiveness, and poor overall survival, underscoring its relevance in patient management ongoing research is investigating mir-31 inhibitors as a therapeutic option to counteract its oncogenic effects and improve treatment responses by sensitizing crc cells to chemotherapeutic-induced apoptosis.