Progress of long noncoding RNAs in anti-tumor resistance

Transcriptome analysis reveals pituitary lncRNA, circRNA and mRNA affecting fertility in high- and low-yielding goats

The pituitary gland serves as the central endocrine regulator of growth, reproduction, and metabolism and plays a crucial role in the reproductive process of female animals. Transcriptome analysis was conducted using pituitary gland samples from Leizhou goats with varying levels of fecundity to investigate the effects of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), circular RNA (circRNA), and mRNA regulation on pituitary hormone secretion and its association with goat fecundity. The analysis aimed to identify lncRNAs, circRNAs, and mRNAs that influence the fertility of Leizhou goats. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed on differentially expressed lncRNAs, circRNAs, and mRNAs and revealed considerable enrichment in pathways, such as regulation of hormone secretion, germ cell development, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion. The pituitary lncRNAs (ENSCHIT00000010293, ENSCHIT00000010304, ENSCHIT00000010306, ENSCHIT00000010290, ENSCHIT00000010298, ENSCHIT00000006769, ENSCHIT00000006767, ENSCHIT00000006921, and ENSCHIT00000001330) and circRNAs (chicirc_029285, chicirc_026618, chicirc_129655, chicirc_018248, chicirc_122554, chicirc_087101, and chicirc_078945) identified as differentially expressed regulated hormone secretion in the pituitary through their respective host genes. Additionally, differential mRNAs (GABBR2, SYCP1, HNF4A, CBLN1, and CDKN1A) influenced goat fecundity by affecting hormone secretion in the pituitary gland. These findings contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying pituitary regulation of fecundity in Leizhou goats.

New mechanisms of multidrug resistance: an introduction to the Cancer Drug Resistance special collection

Cancer Drug Resistance publishes contributions to understanding the biology and consequences of mechanisms that interfere with successful treatment of cancer. Since virtually all patients who die of metastatic cancer have multidrug-resistant tumors, improved treatment will require an understanding of the mechanisms of resistance to design therapies that circumvent these mechanisms, exploit these mechanisms, or inactivate these multidrug resistance mechanisms. One example of a resistance mechanism is the expression of ATP-binding cassette efflux pumps, but unfortunately, inhibition of these transporters has not proved to be the solution to overcome multidrug resistance in cancer. Other mechanisms that confer multidrug resistance, and the confluence of multiple different mechanisms (multifactorial multidrug resistance) have been identified, and it is the goal of this Special Collection to expand this catalog of potential multidrug resistance mechanisms, to explore novel ways to overcome resistance, and to present thoughtful reviews on the problem of multidrug resistance in cancer.

Cell-in-cell: a potential biomarker of prognosis and a novel mechanism of drug resistance in cancer

The cell-in-cell (CIC) phenomenon has received increasing attention over recent years because of its wide existence in multiple cancer tissues. The mechanism of CIC formation is considerably complex as it involves interactions between two cells. Although the molecular mechanisms of CIC formation have been extensively investigated, the process of CIC formation remains ambiguous. Currently, CIC is classified into four subtypes based on different cell types and inducing factors, and the underlying mechanisms for each subtype are distinct. Here, we investigated the subtypes of CIC and their major mechanisms involved in cancer development. To determine the clinical significance of CIC, we reviewed several clinical studies on CIC and found that CIC could serve as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. The implications of CIC on the clinical management of cancers also remain largely unknown. To clarify this aspect, in the present review, we highlight the findings of recent investigations on the causal link between CIC and cancer treatment. We also indicate the existing issues that need to be resolved urgently to provide a potential direction for future research on CIC.

Heterotypic cell-in-cell structures between cancer and NK cells is associated with enhanced anti-cancer drug resistance

The heterotypic CIC structures formed of cancer and immune cells have been observed in tumor tissues. We aimed to assess the feasibility of using heterotypic CICs as a functional biomarker to predict NK susceptibility and drug resistance. The heterotypic CIC-forming cancer cells showed a lower response to NK cytotoxicity and higher proliferative ability than non-CIC cancer cells. After treatment with anticancer drugs, cancer cells that formed heterotypic CICs showed a higher resistance to anticancer drugs than non-CIC cancer cells. We also observed the formation of more CIC structures in cancer cells treated with anticancer drugs than in the non-treated group. Our results confirm the association between heterotypic CIC structures and anticancer drug resistance in CICs formed from NK and cancer cells. These results suggest a mechanism underlying immune evasion in heterotypic CIC cancer cells and provide insights into the anticancer drug resistance of cancer cells.

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Conformation of heterotypic CIC structures formed between cancer and NK cells

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Heterotypic CICs exhibit a higher proliferative ability than non-CIC cells

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Heterotypic CICs are associated with NK susceptibility

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Heterotypic CICs are involved in anticancer drug resistance

Functions of non-coding RNAs in regulating cancer drug targets

With the development of precision medicine, the efficiency of tumor treatment has been significantly improved. More attention has been paid to targeted therapy and immunotherapy as the key to precision treatment of cancer. Targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has become one of the most important targeted treatments for various cancers. Comparing with traditional chemotherapy drugs, targeting EGFR is highly selective in killing tumor cells with better safety, tolerability and less side effect. In addition, tumor immunotherapy has become the fourth largest tumor therapy after surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, these treatments still produce a certain degree of drug resistance. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) were found to play a key role in carcinogenesis, treatment and regulation of the efficacy of anticancer drugs in the past few years. Therefore, in this review, we aim to summarize the targeted treatment of cancers and the functions of ncRNAs in cancer treatment.

Identification of differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs and messenger RNAs involved with muscle development in Dazu black goats through RNA sequencing

This study aimed to explore the genetic basis of muscle development in goats. The transcriptome dataset for differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of goat muscle at different developmental stages were obtained using RNA-Seq. A total of 447,806,481 and 587,559,465 clean reads in the longissimus dorsi muscle of Dazu black goats between 75d embryonic stage and 1d after birth were generated through Illumina paired-end sequencing, and their mapping rates were 89.82 and 90.99%, respectively. Moreover, 4517 DEGs and 648 DELs were identified, and 4784 lncRNA-mRNA targeting relationships were predicted. Gene function annotation results showed that 4101 DEGs were significantly enriched to 1098 GO terms, and 2014 DEGs were significantly enriched to 40 KEGG pathways, including many GO terms and pathways related to muscle development, such as cell differentiation and Wnt signaling pathway. Then, 10 DELs and 20 DEGs were randomly selected for RT-qPCR verification, and the agreement rate between the verification and RNA-Seq results was 90%, indicating the high reliability of the RNA-Seq data analysis. In conclusion, this study obtained several mRNAs and lncRNAs related to the muscle development of Dazu black goats and identified several targeted regulatory pairs of lncRNA-mRNA. This study may serve as a reference to understand the genetic basis and molecular mechanism of muscle development in goats.

LncRNAs in tumor microenvironment: The potential target for cancer treatment with natural compounds and chemical drugs

It was thought that originally long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were a kind of RNAs without any encoding function. Recently, a variety of studies have shown that lncRNAs play important roles in many life activities. The abnormal expression of lncRNAs in tumor microenvironment (TME) usually promotes the proliferation, migration, and drug resistance of tumor cells through direct or indirect effects, which also usually predicts the poor prognosis. The regulation of lncRNAs expression in TME could significantly inhibit tumor progress. However, the interaction between lncRNAs and TME has not been fully defined at present. Therefore, this paper provided the systemic summary of their interaction and natural products and chemicals targeting lncRNAs in cancer treatment. Currently, the strategies of cancer treatment still have their limits. Understanding the relationship between TME and lncRNAs can help us to realize breakthrough strategy for tumor treatment.

Bioinformatic identification of genomic instability-associated lncRNAs signatures for improving the clinical outcome of cervical cancer by a prognostic model

The research is executed to analyze the connection between genomic instability-associated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and the prognosis of cervical cancer patients. We set a prognostic model up and explored different risk groups' features. The clinical datasets and gene expression profiles of 307 patients have been downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. We established a prognostic model that combined somatic mutation profiles and lncRNA expression profiles in a tumor genome and identified 35 genomic instability-associated lncRNAs in cervical cancer as a case study. We then stratified patients into low-risk and high-risk groups and were further checked in multiple independent patient cohorts. Patients were separated into two sets: the testing set and the training set. The prognostic model was built using three genomic instability-associated lncRNAs (AC107464.2, MIR100HG, and AP001527.2). Patients in the training set were divided into the high-risk group with shorter overall survival and the low-risk group with longer overall survival (p < 0.001); in the meantime, similar comparable results were found in the testing set (p = 0.046), whole set (p < 0.001). There are also significant differences in patients with histological grades, FIGO stages, and different ages (p < 0.05). The prognostic model focused on genomic instability-associated lncRNAs could predict the prognosis of cervical cancer patients, paving the way for further research into the function and resource of lncRNAs, as well as a key approach to customizing individual care decision-making.

The Prognostic Value of Long Non-Coding RNA SNHG7 in Human Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

The long non-coding RNA SNHG7 is upregulated in many types of cancer and plays a role as an oncogene. However, its overall predictive ability in human cancer prognosis has not been assessed using existing databases. Therefore, further study of its prognostic value and clinical significance in human malignancies is warranted.

METHODS

We systematically collected relevant literature from multiple electronic document databases about the relationship between SNHG7 expression level and prognosis in patients with solid cancers. We further screened them for eligibility. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the prognostic value. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% CIs were collected to evaluate the relationship between the expression of SNHG7 and clinicopathological features, including lymph node metastasis (LNM), tumour size, tumour node metastasis (TNM) stage and histological grade.

RESULTS

Fourteen original studies involving 971 patients were enrolled strictly following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The meta-analysis showed that SNHG7 expression was significantly correlated with poor overall survival (HR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.64-2.26, p<0.001) in human cancer patients. In addition, the pooled OR indicated that overexpression of SNHG7 was associated with earlier LNM (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.44-2.32; P <0.001), and advanced TNM stage (OR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.44-2.30; P <0.001).Meanwhile, there was no significant heterogeneity between the selected studies, proving the reliability of the meta-analysis results.

CONCLUSIONS

High SNHG7 expression may predict poor oncological outcomes in patients with multiple human cancers, which could be a novel prognostic biomarker of unfulfilled clinicopathological features. However, further high-quality studies are needed to verify and strengthen the clinical value of SNHG7 in different types of cancer.

Long non-coding RNA USP30-AS1 aggravates the malignant progression of cervical cancer by sequestering microRNA-299-3p and thereby overexpressing PTP4A1

USP30 antisense RNA 1 (USP30-AS1) has been studied in bladder urothelial carcinoma. However, the detailed role of USP30-AS1 in cervical cancer remains to be elucidated. Therefore, the present study determined whether USP30-AS1 is implicated in cervical cancer malignancy, and investigated relevant molecular mechanisms. USP30-AS1 expression was measured via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Functional experiments, including the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, flow cytometry, Transwell migration and invasion assays, and mouse tumour model, were performed in order to elucidate the roles of USP30-AS1. The target of USP30-AS1 was predicted using bioinformatics analysis, which was further verified via RNA immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays. Herein, USP30-AS1 overexpression was detected in cervical cancer sample data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and our cohort. Patients with cervical cancer expressing high levels of USP30-AS1 exhibited shorter overall survival than those with low USP30-AS1 expression. In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that USP30-AS1 interference promoted cell apoptosis; restrained cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro, and hindered tumour growth in vivo. Mechanistically, USP30-AS1 competed for microRNA-299-3p (miR-299-3p) in cervical cancer and lowered the regulatory actions of miR-299-3p on protein tyrosine phosphatase type IVA (PTP4A1), resulting in PTP4A1 overexpression. Furthermore, rescue experiments confirmed that miR-299-3p interventions or exogenous PTP4A1 could counteract the cancer-inhibiting actions of USP30-AS1 silencing on cervical cancer cells. In conclusion, the miR-299-3p/PTP4A1 axis is the downstream effector of USP30-AS1 in cervical cancer, forming the USP30-AS1/miR-299-3p/PTP4A1 pathway. This newly identified competing endogenous RNA pathway may offer a novel theoretical and experimental basis for developing promising new strategies for the targeted therapy of cervical cancer.

Long Intergenic Non-Coding RNA LINC00885 Promotes Tumorigenesis of Cervical Cancer by Upregulating MACC1 Expression Through Serving as a Competitive Endogenous RNA for microRNA-432-5p

Purpose

Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 885 (LINC00885) has been well studied in breast cancer; however, its contribution in cervical cancer remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to determine the detailed functions of LINC00885 in cervical cancer and elucidate the underlying molecular regulation mechanism.

Methods

The expression status of LINC00885 in cervical cancer was determined using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and by searching The Cancer Genome Atlas database. The detailed functions of LINC00885 in cervical cancer cells were confirmed using Cell Counting Kit 8 assay, flow cytometry analysis, Transwell cell migration and invasion assays, and tumor xenograft assay. Mechanistic experiments included bioinformatics prediction, RNA immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter assay, and rescue experiments.

Results

LINC00885 was clearly overexpressed in cervical cancer, which was linked with unfavorable clinical outcomes. Functionally, LINC00885 deficiency suppressed cervical cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion but stimulated cell apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, loss of LINC00885 restricted the growth of cervical cancer cells in vivo. Mechanistically, LINC00885 functioned as a competitive endogenous RNA for microRNA-432-5p (miR-432-5p) in cervical cancer. Furthermore, metastasis-associated colon cancer 1 (MACC1) was confirmed as the direct target of miR-432-5p, and LINC00885 could enhance MACC1 expression by sequestering miR-432-5p. Rescue experiments revealed that silencing of miR-432-5p or upregulation of MACC1 expression could effectively counteract the restrained aggressive properties of cervical cancer cells induced by LINC00885 deficiency.

Conclusion

LINC00885 upregulated MACC1 expression in cervical cancer cells by sponging miR-432-5p, thereby promoting cancer progression. The LINC00885/miR-432-5p/MACC1 pathway may help in the identification of potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cervical cancer.

Role of long non-coding RNA H19 in therapy resistance of digestive system cancers

Digestive system cancers are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the main treatment modalities for these cancers. However, the development of therapy resistance leads to high rates of tumor recurrence and metastasis, resulting in dismal prognosis. Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) H19, one of the most intriguing non-coding RNAs, has been shown to play a key role in the development and therapy resistance of various digestive system cancers (including hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, esophageal carcinoma, gastric cancer, and biliary system cancer) by regulating the abnormal expression of genes. In this review, we discuss the potential mechanisms of LncRNA H19 related therapy resistance in the context of digestive system cancers. LncRNA H19 is a potential novel therapeutic target for amelioration of cancer therapy resistance.