Crosstalk of long non-coding RNAs and EMT: Searching the missing pieces of an incomplete puzzle for lung cancer therapy

Fundamental insights and molecular interactions in pancreatic cancer: Pathways to therapeutic approaches

The gastrointestinal tract can be affected by a number of diseases that pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignant manifestation of them. The prognosis of PC patients is unfavorable and because of their diagnosis at advanced stage, the treatment of this tumor is problematic. Owing to low survival rate, there is much interest towards understanding the molecular profile of PC in an attempt in developing more effective therapeutics. The conventional therapeutics for PC include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as emerging immunotherapy. However, PC is still incurable and more effort should be performed. The molecular landscape of PC is an underlying factor involved in increase in progression of tumor cells. In the presence review, the newest advances in understanding the molecular and biological events in PC are discussed. The dysregulation of molecular pathways including AMPK, MAPK, STAT3, Wnt/β-catenin and non-coding RNA transcripts has been suggested as a factor in development of tumorigenesis in PC. Moreover, cell death mechanisms such as apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis and necroptosis demonstrate abnormal levels. The EMT and glycolysis in PC cells enhance to ensure their metastasis and proliferation. Furthermore, such abnormal changes have been used to develop corresponding pharmacological and nanotechnological therapeutics for PC.

The molecular mechanisms of various long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in human lung tumors: Shedding light on the molecular mechanisms

Although it is still mostly incomplete, unraveling the gene expression networks controlling the initiation and progression of cancer is crucial. The rapid identification and characterization of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) is made possible by advancements in computational biology and RNA-seq technology. According to recent research, lncRNAs are involved in several stages in the genesis of lung cancer. These lncRNAs interact with DNA, RNA, protein molecules, and/or their combinations. They play a crucial role in transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation, as well as chromatin architecture. Their misexpression gives cancer cells the ability to start, grow, and spread tumors. This review will focus on their abnormal expression and function in lung cancer, as well as their involvement in cancer therapy and diagnosis.

miRNAs and exosomal miRNAs in lung cancer: New emerging players in tumor progression and therapy response

Non-coding RNAs have shown key roles in cancer and among them, short RNA molecules are known as microRNAs (miRNAs). These molecules have length less than 25 nucleotides and suppress translation and expression. The functional miRNAs are produced in cytoplasm. Lung cancer is a devastating disease that its mortality and morbidity have undergone an increase in recent years. Aggressive behavior leads to undesirable prognosis and tumors demonstrate abnormal proliferation and invasion. In the present review, miRNA functions in lung cancer is described. miRNAs reduce/increase proliferation and metastasis. They modulate cell death and proliferation. Overexpression of oncogenic miRNAs facilitates drug resistance and radio-resistance in lung cancer. Tumor microenvironment components including macrophages and cancer-associated fibroblasts demonstrate interactions with miRNAs in lung cancer. Other factors such as HIF-1α, lncRNAs and circRNAs modulate miRNA expression. miRNAs have also value in the diagnosis of lung cancer. Understanding such interactions can pave the way for developing novel therapeutics in near future for lung cancer patients.

Versatile function of AMPK signaling in osteosarcoma: An old player with new emerging carcinogenic functions

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling has a versatile role in Osteosarcoma (OS), an aggressive bone malignancy with a poor prognosis, particularly in cases that have metastasized or recurred. This review explores the regulatory mechanisms, functional roles, and therapeutic applications of AMPK signaling in OS. It focuses on the molecular activation of AMPK and its interactions with cellular processes like proliferation, apoptosis, and metabolism. The uncertain role of AMPK in cancer is also discussed, highlighting its potential as both a tumor suppressor and a contributor to carcinogenesis. The therapeutic potential of targeting AMPK signaling in OS treatment is examined, including direct and indirect activators like metformin, A-769662, resveratrol, and salicylate. Further research is needed to determine dosing, toxicities, and molecular mechanisms responsible for the anti-osteosarcoma effects of these compounds. This review underscores the complex involvement of AMPK signaling in OS and emphasizes the need for a comprehensive understanding of its molecular mechanisms. By elucidating the role of AMPK in OS, the aim is to pave the way for innovative therapeutic approaches that target this pathway, ultimately improving the prognosis and quality of life for OS patients.

CircRNAs and lung cancer: Insight into their roles in metastasis

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. A major contributing factor to the poor survival rates in lung cancer is the high prevalence of metastasis at the time of diagnosis. To address this critical issue, it is imperative to investigate the mechanisms underlying lung cancer metastasis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a distinct type of ribonucleic acid characterized by their unique circular structure, have been implicated in the progression of various diseases. Recent studies have highlighted the close association between circRNAs and the occurrence and development of lung cancer, particularly in relation to metastasis. In this review, we provide a concise overview of the expression patterns and prognostic significance of circRNAs in lung cancer. Additionally, we summarized the current understanding of the clinical relevance of circRNAs in lung cancer metastasis. Furthermore, we systematically focused on the roles of circRNAs in each step of lung cancer metastasis, reflecting the sequential progression of this process. Notably, circRNAs exhibit dual functionality in lung cancer metastasis, acting both as facilitators and inhibitors of metastatic processes. Given their potential, circRNAs hold promise as novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for lung cancer metastasis, warranting further investigation.

Multifaceted role of NF-κB in hepatocellular carcinoma therapy: Molecular landscape, therapeutic compounds and nanomaterial approaches

The predominant kind of liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that its treatment have been troublesome difficulties for physicians due to aggressive behavior of tumor cells in proliferation and metastasis. Moreover, stemness of HCC cells can result in tumor recurrence and angiogenesis occurs. Another problem is development of resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy in HCC cells. Genomic mutations participate in malignant behavior of HCC and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) has been one of the oncogenic factors in different human cancers that after nuclear translocation, it binds to promoter of genes in regulating their expression. Overexpression of NF-κB has been well-documented in increasing proliferation and invasion of tumor cells and notably, when its expression enhances, it induces chemoresistance and radio-resistance. Highlighting function of NF-κB in HCC can shed some light on the pathways regulating progression of tumor cells. The first aspect is proliferation acceleration and apoptosis inhibition in HCC cells mediated by enhancement in expression level of NF-κB. Moreover, NF-κB is able to enhance invasion of HCC cells via upregulation of MMPs and EMT, and it triggers angiogenesis as another step for increasing spread of tumor cells in tissues and organs. When NF-κB expression enhances, it stimulates chemoresistance and radio-resistance in HCC cells and by increasing stemness and population of cancer-stem cells, it can provide the way for recurrence of tumor. Overexpression of NF-κB mediates therapy resistance in HCC cells and it can be regulated by non-coding RNAs in HCC. Moreover, inhibition of NF-κB by anti-cancer and epigenetic drugs suppresses HCC tumorigenesis. More importantly, nanoparticles are considered for suppressing NF-κB axis in cancer and their prospectives and results can also be utilized for treatment of HCC. Nanomaterials are promising factors in treatment of HCC and by delivery of genes and drugs, they suppress HCC progression. Furthermore, nanomaterials provide phototherapy in HCC ablation.

Deciphering STAT3 signaling potential in hepatocellular carcinoma: tumorigenesis, treatment resistance, and pharmacological significance

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered one of the greatest challenges to human life and is the most common form of liver cancer. Treatment of HCC depends on chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, and immunotherapy, all of which have their own drawbacks, and patients may develop resistance to these therapies due to the aggressive behavior of HCC cells. New and effective therapies for HCC can be developed by targeting molecular signaling pathways. The expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in human cancer cells changes, and during cancer progression, the expression tends to increase. After induction of STAT3 signaling by growth factors and cytokines, STAT3 is phosphorylated and translocated to the nucleus to regulate cancer progression. The concept of the current review revolves around the expression and phosphorylation status of STAT3 in HCC, and studies show that the expression of STAT3 is high during the progression of HCC. This review addresses the function of STAT3 as an oncogenic factor in HCC, as STAT3 is able to prevent apoptosis and thus promote the progression of HCC. Moreover, STAT3 regulates both survival- and death-inducing autophagy in HCC and promotes cancer metastasis by inducing the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In addition, upregulation of STAT3 is associated with the occurrence of chemoresistance and radioresistance in HCC. Specifically, non-protein-coding transcripts regulate STAT3 signaling in HCC, and their inhibition by antitumor agents may affect tumor progression. In this review, all these topics are discussed in detail to provide further insight into the role of STAT3 in tumorigenesis, treatment resistance, and pharmacological regulation of HCC.

The pharmacological and biological importance of EZH2 signaling in lung cancer

Up to 18% of cancer-related deaths worldwide are attributed to lung tumor and global burden of this type of cancer is ascending. Different factors are responsible for development of lung cancer such as smoking, environmental factors and genetic mutations. EZH2 is a vital protein with catalytic activity and belongs to PCR2 family. EZH2 has been implicated in regulating gene expression by binding to promoter of targets. The importance of EZH2 in lung cancer is discussed in current manuscript. Activation of EZH2 significantly elevates the proliferation rate of lung cancer. Furthermore, metastasis and associated molecular mechanisms including EMT undergo activation by EZH2 in enhancing the lung cancer progression. The response of lung cancer to therapy can be significantly diminished due to EZH2 upregulation. Since EZH2 increases tumor progression, anti-cancer agents suppressing its expression reduce malignancy. In spite of significant effort in understanding modulatory function of EZH2 on other pathways, it appears that EZH2 can be also regulated and controlled by other factors that are described in current review. Therefore, translating current findings to clinic can improve treatment and management of lung cancer patients.

Autophagy as a self-digestion signal in human cancers: Regulation by microRNAs in affecting carcinogenesis and therapy response

Autophagy is defined as a "self-digestion" signal, and it is a cell death mechanism its primary function is degrading toxic agents and aged organelles to ensure homeostasis in cells. The basic leve ls of autophagy are found in cells, and when its levels exceed to standard threshold, cell death induction is observed. Autophagy dysregulation in cancer has been well-documented, and regulation of this pathway by epigenetic factors, especially microRNAs (miRNAs), is interesting and noteworthy. miRNAs are considered short endogenous RNAs that do not encode functional proteins, and they are essential regulators of cell death pathways such as apoptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy. Accumulating data has revealed miRNA dysregulation (upregulation or downregulation) during tumor progression, and their therapeutic manipulation provides new insight into cancer therapy. miRNA/autophagy axis in human cancers has been investigated an exciting point is the dual function of both autophagy and miRNAs as oncogenic and onco-suppressor factors. The stimulation of pro-survival autophagy by miRNAs can increase the survival rate of tumor cells and mediates cancer metastasis via EMT inductionFurthermore, pro-death autophagy induction by miRNAs has a negative impact on the viability of tumor cells and decreases their survival rate. The miRNA/autophagy axis functions beyond regulating the growth and invasion of tumor cells, and they can also affect drug resistance and radio-resistance. These subjects are covered in the current review regarding the new updates provided by recent experiments.

Biological impact and therapeutic perspective of targeting PI3K/Akt signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma: Promises and Challenges

Cancer progression results from activation of various signaling networks. Among these, PI3K/Akt signaling contributes to proliferation, invasion, and inhibition of apoptosis. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer with high incidence rate, especially in regions with high prevalence of viral hepatitis infection. Autoimmune disorders, diabetes mellitus, obesity, alcohol consumption, and inflammation can also lead to initiation and development of HCC. The treatment of HCC depends on the identification of oncogenic factors that lead tumor cells to develop resistance to therapy. The present review article focuses on the role of PI3K/Akt signaling in HCC progression. Activation of PI3K/Akt signaling promotes glucose uptake, favors glycolysis and increases tumor cell proliferation. It inhibits both apoptosis and autophagy while promoting HCC cell survival. PI3K/Akt stimulates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and increases matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP) expression during HCC metastasis. In addition to increasing colony formation capacity and facilitating the spread of tumor cells, PI3K/Akt signaling stimulates angiogenesis. Therefore, silencing PI3K/Akt signaling prevents aggressive HCC cell behavior. Activation of PI3K/Akt signaling can confer drug resistance, particularly to sorafenib, and decreases the radio-sensitivity of HCC cells. Anti-cancer agents, like phytochemicals and small molecules can suppress PI3K/Akt signaling by limiting HCC progression. Being upregulated in tumor tissues and clinical samples, PI3K/Akt can also be used as a biomarker to predict patients' response to therapy.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in hepatocellular carcinoma progression: Biological functions and new therapeutic targets

Liver is an important organ in body that performs vital functions such as detoxification. Liver is susceptible to development of cancers, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among them. 75-85% of liver cancer cases are related to HCC. Therefore, much attention has been directed towards understanding factors mediating HCC progression. LncRNAs are epigenetic factors with more than 200 nucleotides in length located in both nucleus and cytoplasm and they are promising candidates in cancer therapy. Directing studies towards understanding function of lncRNAs in HCC is of importance. LncRNAs regulate cell cycle progression and growth of HCC cells, and they can also induce/inhibit apoptosis in tumor cells. LncRNAs affect invasion and metastasis in HCC mainly by epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mechanism. Revealing the association between lncRNAs and downstream signaling pathways in HCC is discussed in the current manuscript. Infectious diseases can affect lncRNA expression in mediating HCC development and then, altered expression level of lncRNA is associated with drug resistance and radio-resistance. Biomarker application of lncRNAs and their role in prognosis and diagnosis of HCC are also discussed to pave the way for treatment of HCC patients.

HEY1-mediated cisplatin resistance in lung adenocarcinoma via epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies and the leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. In patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma who are negative for driver gene mutations, platinum-based chemotherapy represented by cisplatin remain the standard of care. Therefore, studying the mechanism behind inevitable cisplatin resistance in lung adenocarcinoma is still important. In this study, the potentially related differential expression gene for cisplatin resistance in lung adenocarcinoma was screened in the GEO database. The expression level of HEY1 in cell lines of lung adenocarcinoma was detected and HEY1 expression was up-regulated in cisplatin-resistant lung adenocarcinoma tissues and cell lines A549/DDP. Patients with high HEY1 expression have poor prognosis after cisplatin therapy. Gain and loss function assays uncovered that HEY1 could regulate the cisplatin sensitivity of NSCLC cells. In vivo experiments have confirmed that silence of HEY1 expression can induce cisplatin resistance, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) changes occur during this process. Mechanically, HEY1 silencing significantly up-regulated E-cadherin expression and down-regulated Vimentin in A549/DDP cells. While up-regulation of HEY1 resulted in down-regulation of E-cadherin and up-regulation of Vimentin in A549 cells. Immunohistochemical experiments confirmed that E-cadherin was significantly decreased, and Vimentin expression was significantly up-regulated in cisplatin-resistant lung adenocarcinoma tissues. HEY1 can mediate the occurrence of cisplatin-acquired resistance in lung adenocarcinoma, and the possible mechanism is to regulate the EMT. The results of this study can provide a new direction and target for clinical research on the reversal of cisplatin resistance in lung adenocarcinoma.

Long non-coding RNAs and exosomal lncRNAs: Potential functions in lung cancer progression, drug resistance and tumor microenvironment remodeling

Among the different kinds of tumors threatening human life, lung cancer is one that is commonly observed in both males and females. The aggressive behavior of lung cancer and interactions occurring in tumor microenvironment enhances the malignancy of this tumor. The lung tumor cells have demonstrated capacity in developing chemo- and radio-resistance. LncRNAs are a category of non-coding RNAs that do not encode proteins, but their aberrant expression is responsible for tumor development, especially lung cancer. In the present review, we focus on both lncRNAs and exosomal lncRNAs in lung cancer, and their ability in regulating proliferation and metastasis. Cell cycle progression and molecular mechanisms related to lung cancer metastasis such as EMT and MMPs are regulated by lncRNAs. LncRNAs interact with miRNAs, STAT, Wnt, EZH2, PTEN and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways to affect progression of lung cancer cells. LncRNAs demonstrate both tumor-suppressor and tumor-promoting functions in lung cancer. They can be considered as biomarkers in lung cancer and especially exosomal lncRNAs present in body fluids are potential tools for minimally invasive diagnosis. Furthermore, we discuss regulation of lncRNAs by anti-cancer drugs and genetic tools as well as the role of these factors in therapy response of lung cancer cells.

NF-κB as a regulator of cancer metastasis and therapy response: A focus on epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Metastasis of tumor cells is a complex challenge and significantly diminishes the overall survival and prognosis of cancer patients. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a well-known mechanism responsible for the invasiveness of tumor cells. A number of molecular pathways can regulate the EMT mechanism in cancer cells and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) is one of them. The nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 can induce the transcription of several genes involved in EMT induction. The present review describes NF-κB and EMT interaction in cancer cells and their association in cancer progression. Due to the oncogenic role NF-κB signaling, its activation enhances metastasis of tumor cells via EMT induction. This has been confirmed in various cancers including brain, breast, lung and gastric cancers, among others. The ZEB1/2, transforming growth factor-β, and Slug as inducers of EMT undergo upregulation by NF-κB to promote metastasis of tumor cells. After EMT induction driven by NF-κB, a significant decrease occurs in E-cadherin levels, while N-cadherin and vimentin levels undergo an increase. The noncoding RNAs can potentially also function as upstream mediators and modulate NF-κB/EMT axis in cancers. Moreover, NF-κB/EMT axis is involved in mediating drug resistance in tumor cells. Thus, suppressing NF-κB/EMT axis can also promote the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents.

Non-coding RNAs and macrophage interaction in tumor progression

The macrophages are abundantly found in TME and their M2 polarization is in favor of tumor malignancy. On the other hand, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) can modulate macrophage polarization in TME to affect cancer progression. The miRNAs can dually induce/suppress M2 polarization of macrophages and by affecting various molecular pathways, they modulate tumor progression and therapy response. The lncRNAs can affect miRNAs via sponging and other molecular pathways to modulate macrophage polarization. A few experiments have also examined role of circRNAs in targeting signaling networks and affecting macrophages. The therapeutic targeting of these ncRNAs can mediate TME remodeling and affect macrophage polarization. Furthermore, exosomal ncRNAs derived from tumor cells or macrophages can modulate polarization and TME remodeling. Suppressing biogenesis and secretion of exosomes can inhibit ncRNA-mediated M2 polarization of macrophages and prevent tumor progression. The ncRNAs, especially exosomal ncRNAs can be considered as non-invasive biomarkers for tumor diagnosis.