LncRNAs as Chromatin Regulators in Cancer: From Molecular Function to Clinical Potential

Abstract

During the last decade, high-throughput sequencing efforts in the fields of transcriptomics and epigenomics have shed light on the noncoding part of the transcriptome and its potential role in human disease. Regulatory noncoding RNAs are broadly divided into short and long noncoding transcripts. The latter, also known as lncRNAs, are defined as transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides with low or no protein-coding potential. LncRNAs form a diverse group of transcripts that regulate vital cellular functions through interactions with proteins, chromatin, and even RNA itself. Notably, an important regulatory aspect of these RNA species is their association with the epigenetic machinery and the recruitment of its regulatory apparatus to specific loci, resulting in DNA methylation and/or post-translational modifications of histones. Such epigenetic modifications play a pivotal role in maintaining the active or inactive transcriptional state of chromatin and are crucial regulators of normal cellular development and tissue-specific gene expression. Evidently, aberrant expression of lncRNAs that interact with epigenetic modifiers can cause severe epigenetic disruption and is thus is closely associated with altered gene function, cellular dysregulation, and malignant transformation. Here, we survey the latest breakthroughs concerning the role of lncRNAs interacting with the epigenetic machinery in various forms of cancer.

Epigenetics in hepatocellular carcinoma development and therapy: The tip of the iceberg

“…the CXXC un-methylated CpG binding domain) play fundamental roles. 54 , 61 , 62 Another increasingly recognised and critical regulatory layer emerges from cellular metabolism. As described, most epigenetic writers and erasers utilise metabolites such as oxygen, ATP, SAM, NAD + , acetyl-CoA, FAD and α-KG as cofactors or substrates.…”

The Differential Expression of Long Noncoding RNAs in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults

“…LncRNAs, with exosomes as vectors, are targeted for transportation to recipient cells and function as endogenous lncRNAs that participate in intercellular signaling and specifically alter the expression of proteins and genes in recipient cells [4]. LncRNAs have been revealed to mainly function in the following four processes: chromatin, transcriptional regulation, posttranscriptional regulation, and translation level [5]. As lncRNAs are closely related to the pathogenesis of diabetes [6], we aimed to reveal the differential expression of lncRNAs and mRNAs in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and LADA and predict the target genes of lncRNAs to derive their expression profiles for the diagnosis of T2DM and LADA and their differential diagnosis.…”

Research progress regarding the role of long non‑coding RNAs in osteosarcoma (Review)

“…This type of precise cancer treatment, which shows good therapeutic effects and fewer side effects, represents an important breakthrough. lncRNAs can be targeted using small interfering RNA, antisense oligonucleotides, ribozymes, aptamers and miRNAs; these methods have long been used to target important cancer-associated genes, and are at different stages of clinical trials (73,74). Overall, lncRNAs, which regulate the development of OS, may be a molecular target for OS biotherapies.…”