Molecular mechanisms of circular RNAs, transforming growth factor‐β, and long noncoding RNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

At the heart of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lies disruption of signaling pathways at the level of molecules, genes, and cells. Non‐coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been implicated in the disease progression of HCC. For instance, dysregulated expression of circular RNAs (circRNAs) has been observed in patients with HCC. As such, these RNAs are potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic markers for HCC. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a type of ncRNA, have also been recognized to participate in the initiation and progression of HCC. Transforming growth factor‐beta (TGF‐β) is another element which is now recognized to play crucial roles in HCC. It has been implicated in many biological processes such as survival, immune surveillance, and cell proliferation. In HCC, TGF‐β promotes disease progression by two mechanisms: an intrinsic signaling pathway and the extrinsic pathway. Through these pathways, it modulates various microenvironment factors such as inflammatory mediators and fibroblasts. An interesting yet‐to‐be resolved concept is whether the HCC‐promoting role of TGF‐β pathways is limited to a subset of HCC patients or it is involved in the whole process of HCC development. This review summarizes recent advancements to highlight the roles of circRNAs, lncRNAs, and TGF‐β in HCC.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Correlations between chromobox homolog 8 and key factors of epithelial–mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…As a crucial downstream component of the Wnt signaling pathway, mutations and increased nuclear expression of β-catenin have been detected in human HCC specimens [30]. And TGF-β modulates various microenvironment factors involved in HCC through intrinsic or extrinsic signaling pathway [31]. In this study, we clarify a significant correlation between expression of CBX8 and EMT associated markers in HCC cells and tissues, supporting a role of CBX8 playing in HCC progression and metastasis.…”

Long noncoding RNA ZFPM2-AS1 acts as a miRNA sponge and promotes cell invasion through regulation of miR-139/GDF10 in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Recently, high-throughput genome and transcriptome sequencing and microarrays have indicated that apart from protein-coding genes, 75% of the human genomeis transcribed into noncoding RNAs [ 8 ]. LncRNAs are functionally catalogued as noncoding transcripts, are more than 200 nucleotides in length, and have no protein-coding potential.…”

<p>Long Noncoding RNA <em>LINC00173</em> Promotes the Malignancy of Melanoma by Promoting the Expression of IRS4 Through Competitive Binding to microRNA-493</p>

“…16 The actions of lncRNAs are mediated by diverse molecular mechanisms, such as transcriptional modulation, chromatin remodeling, histone modification, regulation of mRNA splicing, and the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanism. 17,18 Existing studies have identified a close relation between lncRNAs and human cancers. [19][20][21] Much evidence suggests that numerous lncRNAs are differentially expressed in melanoma, and their dysregulation is involved in melanoma progression because lncRNAs can act as oncogenic factors or tumor suppressors.…”