The Potential Role of Small Nucleolar RNAs in Cancers – An Evidence Map

Small non-coding RNAs and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Linking diagnosis, pathogenesis, drug resistance, and therapeutic potential

This review comprehensively investigates the intricate interplay between small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a devastating malignancy with limited therapeutic options. Our analysis reveals the pivotal roles of sncRNAs in various facets of PDAC biology, spanning diagnosis, pathogenesis, drug resistance, and therapeutic strategies. sncRNAs have emerged as promising biomarkers for PDAC, demonstrating distinct expression profiles in diseased tissues. sncRNA differential expression patterns, often detectable in bodily fluids, hold potential for early and minimally invasive diagnostic approaches. Furthermore, sncRNAs exhibit intricate involvement in PDAC pathogenesis, regulating critical cellular processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. Additionally, mechanistic insights into sncRNA-mediated pathogenic pathways illuminate novel therapeutic targets and interventions. A significant focus of this review is dedicated to unraveling sncRNA mechanisms underlying drug resistance in PDAC. Understanding these mechanisms at the molecular level is imperative for devising strategies to overcome drug resistance. Exploring the therapeutic landscape, we discuss the potential of sncRNAs as therapeutic agents themselves as their ability to modulate gene expression with high specificity renders them attractive candidates for targeted therapy. In summary, this review integrates current knowledge on sncRNAs in PDAC, offering a holistic perspective on their diagnostic, pathogenic, and therapeutic relevance. By elucidating the roles of sncRNAs in PDAC biology, this review provides valuable insights for the development of novel diagnostic tools and targeted therapeutic approaches, crucial for improving the prognosis of PDAC patients.

Mapping the cited evidence of ductal carcinoma in situ from the 5th edition of the World Health Organisation classification of tumours of the breast

AIMS

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Classification of Tumours (WCT) as a non-invasive neoplastic epithelial proliferation confined to the mammary ducts and lobules. This report categorises the references cited in the DCIS chapter of the 5th edition of the WCT (Breast Tumours) according to prevailing evidence levels for evidence-based medicine and the Hierarchy of Evidence for Tumour Pathology (HETP), identifying potential gaps that can inform subsequent editions of the WCT for this tumour.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We included all citations from the DCIS chapter of the WCT (Breast Tumours, 5th edition). Each citation was appraised according to its study design and evidence level. We developed our map of cited evidence, which is a graphical matrix of tumour type (column) and tumour descriptors (rows). Spheres were used to represent the evidence, with size and colour corresponding to their number and evidence level respectively. Thirty-six publications were retrieved. The cited literature in the DCIS chapter comprised mainly case series and were regarded as low-level. We found an unequal distribution of citations among tumour descriptors. 'Pathogenesis' and 'prognosis and prediction' contained the most references, while 'clinical features', 'aetiology' and 'diagnostic molecular pathology' had only a single citation each. 'Prognosis and prediction' had the greatest proportion of moderate- and high-levels of evidence.

CONCLUSION

Our findings align with the disposition for observational studies inherent in the field of pathology. Our map is a springboard for future efforts in mapping all available evidence on DCIS, potentially augmenting the editorial process and future editions of WCTs.

Noncoding RNAs and programmed cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma: Significant role of epigenetic modifications in prognosis, chemoresistance, and tumor recurrence rate

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer with a high death rate in the world. The molecular mechanisms related to the pathogenesis of HCC have not been precisely defined so far. Hence, this review aimed to address the potential cross-talk between noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and programmed cell death in HCC. All related papers in the English language up to June 2023 were collected and screened. The searched keywords in scientific databases, including Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar, were HCC, ncRNAs, Epigenetic, Programmed cell death, Autophagy, Apoptosis, Ferroptosis, Chemoresistance, Tumor recurrence, Prognosis, and Prediction. According to the reports, ncRNAs, comprising long ncRNAs, microRNAs, circular RNAs, and small nucleolar RNAs can affect cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis, as well as cell death-related processes, such as autophagy, ferroptosis, necroptosis, and apoptosis in HCC by regulating cancer-associated genes and signaling pathways, for example, phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinase/MAPK, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways. It seems that ncRNAs, as epigenetic regulators, can be utilized as biomarkers in diagnosis, prognosis, survival and recurrence rates prediction, chemoresistance, and evaluation of therapeutic response in HCC patients. However, more scientific evidence is suggested to be accomplished to confirm these results.

Small but strong: the emerging role of small nucleolar RNA in cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide. Numerous studies have demonstrated that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play a primary role in CVD development. Therefore, studies on the mechanisms of ncRNAs are essential for further efforts to prevent and treat CVDs. Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are a novel species of non-conventional ncRNAs that guide post-transcriptional modifications and the subsequent maturation of small nuclear RNA and ribosomal RNA. Evidently, snoRNAs are extensively expressed in human tissues and may regulate different illnesses. Particularly, as the next-generation sequencing techniques have progressed, snoRNAs have been shown to be differentially expressed in CVDs, suggesting that they may play a role in the occurrence and progression of cardiac illnesses. However, the molecular processes and signaling pathways underlying the function of snoRNAs remain unidentified. Therefore, it is of great value to comprehensively investigate the association between snoRNAs and CVDs. The aim of this review was to collate existing literature on the biogenesis, characteristics, and potential regulatory mechanisms of snoRNAs. In particular, we present a scientific update on these snoRNAs and their relevance to CVDs in an effort to cast new light on the functions of snoRNAs in the clinical diagnosis of CVDs.

Knowledge mapping and current trends of global research on snoRNA in the field of cancer

Cancer is a major health hazard for humans. Recent studies have indicated the involvement of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) in the occurrence and development of cancer and indicated its potential role as a diagnostic/prognostic marker and therapeutic target. The purpose of this study was to use the bibliometrics method to analyze the published literature on this subject. We collected articles pertaining to the field of snoRNA and cancer from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The data were analyzed to identify the research hotspots and frontiers. The number of articles in this field was low in the early period. Chu Liang and Montanaro Lorenzo were the most prolific authors on this subject, while Jiang and Feng were the most frequently cited authors. In China, three institutions published the most articles, namely Wuhan Univ, China Med Univ, and Guangxi Med Univ. The journal with the highest number of articles on this subject was Oncotarget. The country with the most published articles was China. Analysis of keywords and burst words indicated that early studies mainly focused on molecular mechanisms. Available evidence suggests the involvement of snoRNAs in the molecular mechanism of cancer development and their potential role as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.

PSnoD: identifying potential snoRNA-disease associations based on bounded nuclear norm regularization

Many studies have proved that small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) play critical roles in the development of various human complex diseases. Discovering the associations between snoRNAs and diseases is an important step toward understanding the pathogenesis and characteristics of diseases. However, uncovering associations via traditional experimental approaches is costly and time-consuming. This study proposed a bounded nuclear norm regularization-based method, called PSnoD, to predict snoRNA-disease associations. Benchmark experiments showed that compared with the state-of-the-art methods, PSnoD achieved a superior performance in the 5-fold stratified shuffle split. PSnoD produced a robust performance with an area under receiver-operating characteristic of 0.90 and an area under precision-recall of 0.55, highlighting the effectiveness of our proposed method. In addition, the computational efficiency of PSnoD was also demonstrated by comparison with other matrix completion techniques. More importantly, the case study further elucidated the ability of PSnoD to screen potential snoRNA-disease associations. The code of PSnoD has been uploaded to https://github.com/linDing-groups/PSnoD. Based on PSnoD, we established a web server that is freely accessed via http://psnod.lin-group.cn/.