Université Libre de Bruxelles

Tumors originating from thyroid follicular cells are the most frequent endocrine tumors, showing an increasing incidence that will make this cancer one of the most common in women in the next decade. miRNA, a class of small non-coding RNAs, 19 to 25 nucleotides long, which repress the stability and the translation efficiency of their target mRNAs, have become major recognized actors in cancer physiopathology and diagnosis. We have previously identified several downregulated miRNAs in papillary thyroid carcinomas that are potentially involved in tumor development. The aim of this proposal is to determine the functional role of two of them, miR-1179 and miR-873-5p, in the pathogenesis of papillary thyroid carcinomas, and to identify the targeted modulated pathways. To achieve this aim, in vitro and in vivo investigations will be performed. Those miRNAs might represent new potential therapeutic targets for thyroid cancer.