Non-coding RNAs in human cancer

Emerging roles of ncRNAs regulating ABCC1 on chemotherapy resistance of cancer - a review

In the process of chemotherapy, drug resistance of cancer cells is a common and difficult problem of chemotherapy failure, and it is also the main cause of cancer recurrence and metastasis. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) refer to the RNA that does not encode proteins, including microRNA (miRNA), long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and circularRNA (circRNA), etc. NcRNAs are involved in a series of important life processes and further regulate the expression of ABCC1 by directly or indirectly up-regulating or down-regulating the expression of targeted mRNAs, making cancer cells more susceptible to drug resistance. A growing number of studies have shown that ncRNAs have effects on cancer cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and drug sensitivity, by regulating the expression of ABCC1. In this review, we will discuss the emerging roles of ncRNAs regulating ABCC1 in chemotherapy resistance and mechanisms to reverse drug resistance as well as provide potential targets for future cancer treatment.

28S rRNA-Derived Fragments Represent an Independent Molecular Predictor of Short-Term Relapse in Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a global health concern, being a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among males. Early detection and accurate prognosis are crucial for effective management. This study delves into the diagnostic and prognostic potential of 28S rRNA-derived fragments (rRFs) in PCa. Total RNA extracted from 89 PCa and 53 benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) tissue specimens. After 3'-end polyadenylation, we performed reverse transcription to create first-strand cDNA. Using an in-house quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assay, we quantified 28S rRF levels. Post-treatment biochemical relapse served as the clinical endpoint event for survival analysis, which we validated internally through bootstrap analysis. Our results revealed downregulated 28S rRF levels in PCa compared to BPH patients. Additionally, we observed a significant positive correlation between 28S rRF levels and higher Gleason scores and tumor stages. Furthermore, PCa patients with elevated 28S rRF expression had a significantly higher risk of post-treatment disease relapse independently of clinicopathological data. In conclusion, our study demonstrates, for the first time, the prognostic value of 28S rRF in prostate adenocarcinoma. Elevated 28S rRF levels independently predict short-term PCa relapse and enhance risk stratification. This establishes 28S rRF as a potential novel molecular marker for PCa prognosis.

Function of Long Noncoding RNAs in Glioma Progression and Treatment Based on the Wnt/β-Catenin and PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathways

Gliomas are a deadly primary malignant tumor of the central nervous system, with glioblastoma (GBM) representing the most aggressive type. The clinical prognosis of GBM patients remains bleak despite the availability of multiple options for therapy, which has needed us to explore new therapeutic methods to face the rapid progression, short survival, and therapy resistance of glioblastomas. As the Human Genome Project advances, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have attracted the attention of researchers and clinicians in cancer research. Numerous studies have found aberrant expression of signaling pathways in glioma cells. For example, lncRNAs not only play an integral role in the drug resistance process by regulating the Wnt/β-catenin or PI3K/Akt signaling but are also involved in a variety of malignant biological behaviors such as glioma proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumor apoptosis. Therefore, the present review systematically assesses the existing research evidence on the malignant progression and drug resistance of glioma, focusing on the critical role and potential function of lncRNAs in the Wnt/β-catenin and PI3K/Akt classical pathways to promote and encourage further research in this field.

Novel role of immune-related non-coding RNAs as potential biomarkers regulating tumour immunoresponse via MICA/NKG2D pathway

Major histocompatibility complex class I related chain A (MICA) is an important and stress-induced ligand of the natural killer group 2 member D receptor (NKG2D) that is expressed in various tumour cells. Given that the MICA/NKG2D signalling system is critically embedded in the innate and adaptive immune responses, it is particularly involved in the surveillance of cancer and viral infections. Emerging evidence has revealed the important roles of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) including microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in different cancer types. We searched for all relevant publications in the PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science database using the keywords ncRNA, MICA, NKG2D, cancer, and miRNAs. All relevant studies published from 2008 to the 2023 were retrieved and collated. Notably, we found that miRNAs can target to NKG2D mRNA and MICA mRNA 3'-untranslated regions (3'-UTR), leading to translation inhibition of NKG2D and MICA degradation. Several immune-related MICA/NKG2D pathways may be dysregulated in cancer with aberrant miRNA expressions. At the same time, the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) hypothesis holds that circRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs induce an abnormal MICA expression by directly targeting downstream miRNAs to mediate mRNA suppression in cancer. This review summarizes the novel mechanism of immune escape in the ncRNA-related MICA/NKG2D pathway mediated by NK cells and cancer cells. Moreover, we identified the miRNA-NKG2D, miRNA-MICA and circRNA/lncRNA/mRNA-miRNA-mRNA/MICA axis. Thus, we were particularly concerned with the regulation of mediated immune escape in the MICA/NKG2D pathway by ncRNAs as potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers of immunity and cancer.

Non-coding RNAs in renal cell carcinoma: Implications for drug resistance

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents a malignant tumor of the urinary system. Individuals with early-stage RCC could be cured by surgical treatment, but a considerable number of cases of advanced RCC progress to drug resistance. Recently, numerous reports have demonstrated that a variety of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) contribute to tumor occurrence and development. ncRNAs can act as oncogenic or tumor suppressor genes to regulate proliferation, migration, drug resistance and other processes in RCC cells through a variety of signaling pathways. Considering the lack of treatment options for advanced RCC after drug resistance, ncRNAs may be a good choice as biomarkers of drug resistance in RCC and targets to overcome drug resistance. In this review, we discussed the effects of ncRNAs on drug resistance in RCC and the great potential of ncRNAs as a biomarker of or a new therapeutic method in RCC.

A Data-Mining Approach to Identify NF-kB-Responsive microRNAs in Tissues Involved in Inflammatory Processes: Potential Relevance in Age-Related Diseases

The nuclear factor NF-kB is the master transcription factor in the inflammatory process by modulating the expression of pro-inflammatory genes. However, an additional level of complexity is the ability to promote the transcriptional activation of post-transcriptional modulators of gene expression as non-coding RNA (i.e., miRNAs). While NF-kB’s role in inflammation-associated gene expression has been extensively investigated, the interplay between NF-kB and genes coding for miRNAs still deserves investigation. To identify miRNAs with potential NF-kB binding sites in their transcription start site, we predicted miRNA promoters by an in silico analysis using the PROmiRNA software, which allowed us to score the genomic region’s propensity to be miRNA cis-regulatory elements. A list of 722 human miRNAs was generated, of which 399 were expressed in at least one tissue involved in the inflammatory processes. The selection of “high-confidence” hairpins in miRbase identified 68 mature miRNAs, most of them previously identified as inflammamiRs. The identification of targeted pathways/diseases highlighted their involvement in the most common age-related diseases. Overall, our results reinforce the hypothesis that persistent activation of NF-kB could unbalance the transcription of specific inflammamiRNAs. The identification of such miRNAs could be of diagnostic/prognostic/therapeutic relevance for the most common inflammatory-related and age-related diseases.

Molecular mechanisms of microRNA-216a during tumor progression

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as the members of non-coding RNAs family are involved in post-transcriptional regulation by translational inhibiting or mRNA degradation. They have a critical role in regulation of cell proliferation and migration. MiRNAs aberrations have been reported in various cancers. Considering the importance of these factors in regulation of cellular processes and their high stability in body fluids, these factors can be suggested as suitable non-invasive markers for the cancer diagnosis. MiR-216a deregulation has been frequently reported in different cancers. Therefore, in the present review we discussed the molecular mechanisms of the miR-216a during tumor progression. It has been reported that miR-216a mainly functioned as a tumor suppressor through the regulation of signaling pathways and transcription factors. This review paves the way to suggest the miR-216a as a probable therapeutic and diagnostic target in cancer patients.

Noncoding RNA-mediated regulation of pyroptotic cell death in cancer

Pyroptosis is a newly discovered form of programmed cell death, which is manifested by DNA fragmentation, cell swelling, cell membrane rupture and leakage of cell contents. Previous studies have demonstrated that pyroptosis is tightly associated with the initiation and development of various cancers, whereas the molecular mechanisms underlying pyroptosis remain obscure. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a type of heterogeneous transcripts that are broadly expressed in mammalian cells. Owing to their potency of regulating gene expression, ncRNAs play essential roles in physiological and pathological processes. NcRNAs are increasingly acknowledged as important regulators of the pyroptosis process. Importantly, the crosstalk between ncRNAs and pyroptosis affects various hallmarks of cancer, including cell growth, survival, metastasis and therapeutic resistance. The study of the involvement of pyroptosis-associated ncRNAs in cancer pathobiology has become a hot area in recent years, while there are limited reviews on this topic. Herein, we provide an overview of the complicated roles of ncRNAs, mainly including microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), in modulating pyroptosis, with a focus on the underlying mechanisms of the ncRNA-pyroptosis axis in cancer pathogenesis. Finally, we discuss the potential applications and challenges of exploiting pyroptosis-regulating ncRNAs as molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancer.

ZFP36 Inhibits Tumor Progression of Human Prostate Cancer by Targeting CDK6 and Oxidative Stress

Background

The expression of ZFP36 in previous study was reduced in prostate cancer (PCa) tissues as compared to benign prostate tissues, indicating the potential of ZFP36 as an auxiliary marker for PCa. Further evaluation was conducted in clinical samples for in vitro and in vivo experiments, to prove the potential possibility that ZFP36 dysregulation participated in the malignant phenotype of PCa, to determine its potential mechanism for tumor regulation, and to provide a new theoretical basis for gene therapy of PCa.

Methods

First, the expression of ZFP36 in prostate tissue and PCa tissue was explored, and the relationship between ZFP36 and clinical features of PCa patients was illustrated. Subsequently, the impact of ZFP36 on the biology of PCa cells and relevant downstream pathways of ZFP36's biological impact on PCa were elucidated. Finally, whether oxidative stress mediated the regulation of ZFP36 in PCa was verified by the determination of oxidative stress-related indicators and bioinformatics analysis.

Results

The downregulation of ZFP36 in PCa tissue had a positive correlation with high Gleason scores, advanced pathological stage, and biochemical recurrence. ZFP36 was identified as an independent prognostic factor for PCa patients' BCR-free survival (P = 0.022) by survival analysis. Following a subsequent experiment of function gain and loss, ZFP36 inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and migration in DU145 and 22RV1 cells and inhibits tumor growth in the mouse model. Additionally, high-throughput sequencing screened out CDK6 as the downstream target gene of ZFP36. Western blot/Q-PCR demonstrated that overexpression of ZFP36 could reduce the expression of CDK6 at both cellular and animal levels, and the dual-luciferase experiment and RIP experiment proved that CDK6 was the downstream target of ZFP36, indicating that CDK6 was a downstream target of ZFP36, which mediated tumor cell growth by blocking cell cycle at the G1 stage. Furthermore, ZFP36 inhibited oxidative stress in PCa cells.

Conclusions

In PCa, ZFP36 might be a tumor suppressor that regulated growth, invasion, and migration of PCa cells. The lately discovered ZFP36-CDK6 axis demonstrated the molecular mechanism of PCa progression to a certain extent which might act as a new possible therapeutic target of PCa therapy.