Oyejobi GK, Yan X, Sliz P, Wang L. Regulating Protein-RNA Interactions: Advances in Targeting the LIN28/Let-7 Pathway.
Int J Mol Sci 2024;
25:3585. [PMID:
38612395 PMCID:
PMC11011352 DOI:
10.3390/ijms25073585]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Originally discovered in C. elegans, LIN28 is an evolutionarily conserved zinc finger RNA-binding protein (RBP) that post-transcriptionally regulates genes involved in developmental timing, stem cell programming, and oncogenesis. LIN28 acts via two distinct mechanisms. It blocks the biogenesis of the lethal-7 (let-7) microRNA (miRNA) family, and also directly binds messenger RNA (mRNA) targets, such as IGF-2 mRNA, and alters downstream splicing and translation events. This review focuses on the molecular mechanism of LIN28 repression of let-7 and current strategies to overcome this blockade for the purpose of cancer therapy. We highlight the value of the LIN28/let-7 pathway as a drug target, as multiple oncogenic proteins that the pathway regulates are considered undruggable due to their inaccessible cellular location and lack of cavities for small molecule binding.
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