Materials and methods related to modulation of mismatch repair and genomic stability by miR-155

1. A method for restoring a desired expression of at least one core mismatch repair (MMR) protein in a cell in need thereof, comprising administering to the cell an effective amount of at least anti-miR-155 in an amount sufficient to increase expression of one or more core MMR proteins selected from: human MutS homolog 2 (MSH2), human MutS homolog 6 (MSH6), and human MutL homolog 1 (MLH1).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell is a cancer cell.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the cancer is colorectal cancer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the anti-miR-155 comprises a locked nucleic acid modified oligonucleotide that targets miR-155.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell is in a human subject.

6. A method for inducing re-expression of at least one mismatch repair MMR gene in a cell in need thereof, comprising administering to the cell an effective amount of an anti-miR-155 sufficient to induce MMR gene expression selected from one or more of human MutS homolog 2 (MSH2), human MutS homolog 6 (MSH6), and human MutL homolog 1 (MLH1).

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the cell is a cancer cell.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the cancer is colorectal cancer.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the anti-miR-155 comprises a locked nucleic acid modified oligonucleotide that targets miR-155.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the cell is in a human subject.

11. A method for increasing expression of a mismatch repair (MMR) protein in a cell in need thereof, the method comprising: transfecting a cell with an anti-miR-155 nucleic acid construct in an amount sufficient to increase expression of one or more MMR proteins selected from: human MutS homolog 2 (MSH2), human MutS homolog 6 (MSH6), and human MutL homolog 1 (MLH1).

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cell is a cancer cell.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the cancer is colorectal cancer.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the anti-miR-155 nucleic acid construct comprises a locked nucleic acid modified oligonucleotide that targets miR-155.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cell is in a human subject.

16. A method of up-regulating at least one mismatch repair (MMR) gene in a cell, comprising introducing into the cell an effective amount of a miR-specific inhibitor of at least miR-155 into the cell sufficient to alter expression patterns of one or more proteins encoded by the MMR gene, the mismatch repair (MMR) proteins being selected from: human MutS homolog 2 (MSH2), human MutS homolog 6 (MSH6), and human MutL homolog 1 (MLH1).

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the cell is a cancer cell.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the cancer is colorectal cancer.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the miR-specific inhibitor is anti-sense miR-155.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the anti-sense miR-155 comprises a locked nucleic acid modified oligonucleotide that targets miR-155.

21. The method of claim 16 , wherein the cell is in a human subject.