Liver Cancer Could Be Due To Absence Of microrna MIR122

In this study,mice lacking the miR-122 gene developed fatty deposits in their livers, got hepatitis, and grew tumors that resembled hepatocellular carcinoma. These disease signs were accompanied by over-active cancer signalling pathways, and that the livers were full of inflammatory cells that produce tumor-generating molecules called cytokines, including two well-known to cancer researchers, IL-6 and TNF. MIR122 also regulates replication of the hepatitis C virus.