Another German study has shown that miR-221 and miR-222 are downregulated in wild-type and mutated GISTs; furthermore, they induce apoptosis in vitro by a signaling cascade involving KIT, AKT and BCL2 suggesting that overexpression of these miRNAs seems to functionally counteract oncogenic signaling pathways in GIST [39]. This evidence concerns the gene KIT and gastrointestinal stromal tumor.