lncRNAs: function and mechanism in cartilage development, degeneration, and regeneration

Abstract

With the increasing incidence of cartilage-related diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA) and intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD), heavier financial and social burdens need to be faced. Unfortunately, there is no satisfactory clinical method to target the pathophysiology of cartilage-related diseases. Many gene expressions, signaling pathways, and biomechanical dysregulations were involved in cartilage development, degeneration, and regeneration. However, the underlying mechanism was not clearly understood. Recently, lots of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were identified in the biological processes, including cartilage development, degeneration, and regeneration. It is clear that lncRNAs were important in regulating gene expression and maintaining chondrocyte phenotypes and homeostasis. In this review, we summarize the recent researches studying lncRNAs' expression and function in cartilage development, degeneration, and regeneration and illustrate the potential mechanism of how they act in the pathologic process. With continued efforts, regulating lncRNA expression in the cartilage regeneration may be a promising biological treatment approach.

Identification of lncRNA and mRNA Biomarkers in Osteoarthritic Degenerative Meniscus by Weighted Gene Coexpression Network and Competing Endogenous RNA Network Analysis

“…Therefore, understanding the potential pathogenesis of meniscus degeneration is of considerable significance to identify the therapeutic targets and is beneficial to study the disease further and to search for the biotherapies of the disease. Accumulating studies highlighted the role of lncRNAs in disease pathology from the view of gene expression regulation [ 21 , 30 , 31 ]. To illuminate the mechanism of meniscus degeneration of KOA, we used differential expression analysis, WGCNA, and ceRNA networks to identify biomarkers in samples of the meniscus from KOA and non-KOA subjects.…”

The Roles and Mechanisms of lncRNAs in Liver Fibrosis

“…LncRNAs are involved in multiple pathological processes and biological functions such as malignancy, differentiation, apoptosis, development, survival, and proliferation [31]. LncRNAs can impact biological pathways and cellular activities by different mechanisms; for example, they can target transcription factors, block transcription of nearby genes, direct methylation complexes, and initiate chromatin remodelling [32,33] ( Figure 2B). During the progression of liver fibrosis, a number of lncRNAs play roles in the promotion or suppression of fibrosis through binding of ceRNAs to miRNAs and directly binding proteins [34][35][36].…”

Long non-coding RNA Gm12664 up-regulates CAV1 expression to promote hepatocellular lipid accumulation by sponging miR-295-5p

“…Many current studies have showed that lncRNAs regulate gene expression indirectly via transcriptional regulation, posttranscriptional modification, and modulation of microRNA (miRNA) activities [21,27,28] . Among them, the most common mechanism is that lncRNAs can function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to protect mRNAs by competing for their targeting microRNAs [19,20] .…”