miR-495–3p as a promising tumor suppressor in human cancers

Noncoding RNAs are a type of cellular RNA not having the ability to translate into proteins. As an important type of ncRNA with a length of about 22 nucleotides (nt), microRNAs were revealed to contribute to regulating the various cellular functions via regulating the protein translation of target genes. Among them, available studies proposed that miR-495–3p is a pivotal player in cancer pathogenesis. These studies showed that the expression level of miR-495–3p decreased in various cancer cells, suggesting its tumor suppressor role in cancer pathogenesis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) are the important regulators of miR-495–3p via sponging it, leading to increased expression levels of its target genes. Moreover, miR-495–3p was shown to have a promising potential to be a prognostic and diagnostic biomarker in cancer. MiR-495–3p also could affect the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapy agents. Here, we discussed the molecular mechanisms of miR-495–3p in various cancer including breast cancer. In addition, we discussed the miR-495–3p potential as a prognostic and diagnostic biomarker as well as its activity in cancer chemotherapy. Finally, we discussed the current limitations regarding the use of microRNAs in clinics and the future prospects of microRNAs.