10P Emerging role of Telomeric repeat-containing RNA TERRA in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent primary tumor of the liver and the third cause of cancer-related deaths. The identification of candidate molecular targets and biomarkers in HCC clinical practice are needed. The signatures of aberrant long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) expression in HCC tissues, their extracellular release and stability had led to their exploration as diagnostic and prognostic tools as well as potential therapeutic targets for HCC. Telomeric-Repeat Containing RNA (TERRA) consists of 100nt-9Kb subtelomeric-derived transcripts able to base-pair with TERC RNA, acting as telomerase allosteric inhibitor. Little is known on the role of lncRNA TERRA in HCC.