Long Noncoding RNA and Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in Cancer

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a multistep process that allows epithelial cells to acquire mesenchymal properties. Fundamental in the early stages of embryonic development, this process is aberrantly activated in aggressive cancerous cells to gain motility and invasion capacity, thus pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2019-04, Vol.20 (8), p.1924
Main Authors: Gugnoni, Mila, Ciarrocchi, Alessia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
1-Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase
Annotations
Antisense RNA
Cancer
Cell adhesion & migration
Cell cycle
Cell growth
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Enhancers
Epigenetics
Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT)
Gene expression
Growth factors
Intracellular signalling
Kinases
long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)
MAP kinase
Mesenchyme
Metastasis
Peptides
Post-translation
Protein kinase
Proteins
Regulatory sequences
Review
RNA polymerase
RNA-binding protein
Transcription factors
Tumorigenesis
Tumors
Wnt protein
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Summary:Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a multistep process that allows epithelial cells to acquire mesenchymal properties. Fundamental in the early stages of embryonic development, this process is aberrantly activated in aggressive cancerous cells to gain motility and invasion capacity, thus promoting metastatic phenotypes. For this reason, EMT is a central topic in cancer research and its regulation by a plethora of mechanisms has been reported. Recently, genomic sequencing and functional genomic studies deepened our knowledge on the fundamental regulatory role of noncoding DNA. A large part of the genome is transcribed in an impressive number of noncoding RNAs. Among these, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to control several biological processes affecting gene expression at multiple levels from transcription to protein localization and stability. Up to now, more than 8000 lncRNAs were discovered as selectively expressed in cancer cells. Their elevated number and high expression specificity candidate these molecules as a valuable source of biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets. Rising evidence currently highlights a relevant function of lncRNAs on EMT regulation defining a new layer of involvement of these molecules in cancer biology. In this review we aim to summarize the findings on the role of lncRNAs on EMT regulation and to discuss their prospective potential value as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancer.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms20081924