Melanoma is a type of
skin cancer that is highly aggressive, and is considered the most deadly of all
skin cancers. Currently, there are no effective
therapies for
melanomas once they undergo
metastasis.
MicroRNAs (
miRNAs) are small, single-stranded,
non-coding RNA molecules that can post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. They have been reported to be associated with the occurrence of many diseases, including human
melanoma. However, the mechanisms by which
miRNAs exert their effects remain unclear; therefore, a systematic analysis of the miRNAome in human
melanoma is necessary. We investigated the miRNAome in human melanocyte and
melanoma cell lines using high-throughput
RNA sequencing. We identified a group of dysregulated
miRNAs by comparing the
miRNA expression profiles among the
melanoma cell lines. Target genes of these
miRNAs encode
proteins whose functions are associated with the cell cycle and apoptosis. Gene networks were built to investigate the interactions of genes during
melanoma progression. We identified that the key genes that regulate
melanoma cell proliferation were regulated by
miRNAs. In summary, our investigation of the human
melanoma miRNAome using high-throughput sequencing revealed a number of previously unreported
miRNAs associated with malignant progression of
melanoma. Our findings add to existing knowledge regarding the mechanisms of
melanoma development.