MicroRNA: a new tool for biomedical risk assessment and target identification in human uterine leiomyomas.

MicroRNA (miRNA) expression is tissue specific or cell-type specific. miRNA signatures are useful tools for tumor classification and target gene identification. We and others found that uterine leiomyomas (ULMs) expressed a distinct miRNA signature. In addition, miRNA expression appears to be strongly associated with race and other biomedical factors, such as tumor sizes. Among the most highly dysregulated miRNAs, let-7 miRNAs seem to play a critical role in tumorigenesis of ULMs through negative regulation of some key target oncogenes, including high mobility group 2.