Long Non-Coding RNA MNX1-AS1 Promotes Progression of Triple Negative Breast Cancer by Enhancing Phosphorylation of Stat3

TEAD4: A key regulator of tumor metastasis and chemoresistance - Mechanisms and therapeutic implications

Cancer metastasis is a complex process influenced by various factors, including epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), tumor cell proliferation, tumor microenvironment, and cellular metabolic status, which remains a significant challenge in clinical oncology, accounting for a majority of cancer-related deaths. TEAD4, a key mediator of the Hippo signaling pathway, has been implicated in regulating these factors that are all critical in the metastatic cascade. TEAD4 drives tumor metastasis and chemoresistance, and its upregulation is associated with poor prognosis in many types of cancers, making it an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. TEAD4 promotes EMT by interacting with coactivators and activating the transcription of genes involved in mesenchymal cell characteristics and extracellular matrix remodeling. Additionally, TEAD4 enhances the stemness of cancer stem cells (CSCs) by regulating the expression of genes associated with CSC maintenance. TEAD4 contributes to metastasis by modulating the secretion of paracrine factors and promoting heterotypic cellular communication. In this paper, we highlight the central role of TEAD4 in cancer metastasis and chemoresistance and its impact on various aspects of tumor biology. Understanding the mechanistic basis of TEAD4-mediated processes can facilitate the development of targeted therapies and combination approaches to combat cancer metastasis and improve treatment outcomes.

Exploiting Long Non-Coding RNAs and Circular RNAs as Pharmacological Targets in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast cancer is one of the most frequent causes of cancer death among women worldwide. In particular, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents the most aggressive breast cancer subtype because it is characterized by the absence of molecular targets, thus making it an orphan type of malignancy. The discovery of new molecular druggable targets is mandatory to improve treatment success. In that context, non-coding RNAs represent an opportunity for modulation of cancer. They are RNA molecules with apparently no protein coding potential, which have been already demonstrated to play pivotal roles within cells, being involved in different processes, such as proliferation, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, migration, and diseases, including cancer. Accordingly, they could be used as targets for future TNBC personalized therapy. Moreover, the peculiar characteristics of non-coding RNAs make them reliable biomarkers to monitor cancer treatment, thus, to monitor recurrence or chemoresistance, which are the most challenging aspects in TNBC. In the present review, we focused on the oncogenic or oncosuppressor role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) mostly involved in TNBC, highlighting their mode of action and depicting their potential role as a biomarker and/or as targets of new non-coding RNA-based therapeutics.

Long Non-coding RNA LINC01224 Promotes the Malignant Behaviors of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells via Regulating the miR-193a-5p/NUP210 Axis

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a prevalent malignant tumor in women and is characterized by high incidence and mortality. Current evidence has suggested that multiple long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play regulatory roles in TNBC, while the specific mechanism of LINC01224 in TNBC remains unclear. In this study, LINC01224 was highly expressed in TNBC cells. Moreover, LINC01224 downregulation inhibited TNBC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis. Additionally, LINC01224 stabilized NUP210 mRNA through interaction with miR-193a-5p, thereby aggravating the malignant phenotypes of TNBC. Overall, LINC01224 functions as a tumor promoter for TNBC.

Data resources and computational methods for lncRNA-disease association prediction

Increasing interest has been attracted in deciphering the potential disease pathogenesis through lncRNA-disease association (LDA) prediction, regarding to the diverse functional roles of lncRNAs in genome regulation. Whilst, computational models and algorithms benefit systematic biology research, even facilitate the classical biological experimental procedures. In this review, we introduce representative diseases associated with lncRNAs, such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological diseases. Current publicly available resources related to lncRNAs and diseases have also been included. Furthermore, all of the 64 computational methods for LDA prediction have been divided into 5 groups, including machine learning-based methods, network propagation-based methods, matrix factorization- and completion-based methods, deep learning-based methods, and graph neural network-based methods. The common evaluation methods and metrics in LDA prediction have also been discussed. Finally, the challenges and future trends in LDA prediction have been discussed. Recent advances in LDA prediction approaches have been summarized in the GitHub repository at https://github.com/sheng-n/lncRNA-disease-methods.

Activation of MYO1G by lncRNA MNX1-AS1 Drives the Progression in Lung Cancer

Lung cancer represents the most prevalent cancer worldwide and causes the death of many patients. Cancer stem cells (CSCs), a subpopulation of cancer cells, have the capacities of self-renewal, unlimited proliferation, and multiple differentiation potential. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential role of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) MNX1-AS1 on maintaining the stemness of CSC in lung cancer. CSCs were firstly sorted by flow cytometry. After the determination of the target of the present study using Gene Expression Omnibus dataset, MNX1-AS1was found to be highly expressed in lung cancer tissues and cells. Deletion of MNX1-AS1 inhibited proliferation, migration, invasion and sphere-forming abilities of CSC. Furthermore, subcellular fractionation, fluorescence in situ hybridization, RNA immunoprecipitation, and dual-luciferase experiments demonstrated that MNX1-AS1 recruited the transcription factor POU domain class 2 transcription factor 2 (POU2F2) to the nucleus and activated the myosin IG (MYO1G) expression. MYO1G overexpression partially reversed the si-MNX1-AS1-decreased stemness of CSCs. Finally, MNX1-AS1 suppression significantly repressed the growth of xenografts in vivo. Our study highlights the importance of the MNX1-AS1/POU2F2/MYO1G axis in stem cell-like properties of lung cancer cells.

MNX1-AS1, a c-Myc induced lncRNA, promotes the Warburg effect by regulating PKM2 nuclear translocation

BACKGROUND

Altered glycolysis is the most fundamental metabolic change associated with the Warburg effect. Some glycolytic enzymes such as PKM2, the dominant pyruvate kinase in cancer cells, have been shown to engage in non-glycolytic functions that contribute to tumor metabolism. However, the precise mechanisms are not completely understood.

METHODS

The role of MNX1-AS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma progression was assessed both in vitro and in vivo. Northern blotting, RNA pulldown, mass spectrometry, RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation, ChIP, luciferase reporter assays, RNA FISH and immunofluorescence staining were used to explore the detail molecular mechanism of MNX1-AS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

RESULTS

Here we dissect how MNX1-AS1, a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), reinforces the Warburg effect through facilitating the non-glycolytic actions of PKM2 in the cell nucleus. We found that MNX1-AS1 expression was frequently overexpressed in HCC-derived cell lines and tissues compared to their normal hepatic cell counterparts, a finding consistent with its status as pan-cancer expressed lncRNA. In the context of HCC, we show MNX1-AS1 acts as a scaffold to promote interactions between PKM2 and importin α5. In response to EGFR activation, the resulting ternary complex drives the translocation of PKM2 into the nucleus. In consequence, glycolytic pathway components including key mediators of the Warburg effect (LDHA, GLUT1 and PDK1) are upregulated though the coactivator function of PKM2. Manipulating MNX1-AS1 elicited robust effects on glycolysis associated with marked changes in HCC growth in vitro and in xenograft models, indicative of the significant contribution of MNX1-AS1 to tumorigenic phenotypes. Moreover, while MNX1-AS1 expression is driven by c-Myc, its actions associated with PKM2 were shown to be downstream and independent of c-Myc.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the status of MNX1-AS1 as a pan-cancer upregulated lncRNA, this implicitly highlights the potential of targeting MNX1-AS1 to selectively counter the Warburg effect in a range of tumor types.

Pan-Cancer Analysis Identifies MNX1 and Associated Antisense Transcripts as Biomarkers for Cancer

The identification of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers is a major objective in improving clinical outcomes in cancer, which has been facilitated by the availability of high-throughput gene expression data. A growing interest in non-coding genomic regions has identified dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in several malignancies, suggesting a potential use as biomarkers. In this study, we leveraged data from large-scale sequencing projects to uncover the expression patterns of the MNX1 gene and its associated lncRNAs MNX1-AS1 and MNX1-AS2 in solid tumours. Despite many reports describing MNX1 overexpression in several cancers, limited studies exist on MNX1-AS1 and MNX1-AS2 and their potential as biomarkers. By employing clustering methods to visualise multi-gene relationships, we identified a discriminative power of the three genes in distinguishing tumour vs. normal samples in several cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and reproductive systems, as well as in discerning oesophageal and testicular cancer histological subtypes. Notably, the expressions of MNX1 and its antisenses also correlated with clinical features and endpoints, uncovering previously unreported associations. This work highlights the advantages of using combinatory expression patterns of non-coding transcripts of differentially expressed genes as clinical evaluators and identifies MNX1, MNX1-AS1, and MNX1-AS2 expressions as robust candidate biomarkers for clinical applications.

Overexpression of LncRNA MNX1-AS1/PPFIA4 Activates AKT/HIF-1α Signal Pathway to Promote Stemness of Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of the lncRNA MNX1-AS1 and its related downstream signaling pathways in colorectal adenocarcinoma (COAD). Methods. COAD tissues and cells were prepared and treated with sh-MNX1-AS1, pcDNA-MNX1-AS1, sh-PPFIA4, LY29004, and their controls. CCK8 and colony formation assays were undertaken for evaluating cell proliferation. Tumor cell migratory ability was detected by transwell assay. Apoptosis detection was processed by YO-PRO-1/PI Staining. The regulated relationship between lncRNA MNX1-AS1 and PPFIA4 was confirmed by RIP-ChIP assay. Q-PCR was applied to detect genes related to tumor cell stemness, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis in each group. Finally, a xenograft tumor model was constructed to verify the result in vivo. Results. COAD patients with high expression of the lncRNA MNX1-AS1 have poor prognosis. LncRNA MNX1-AS1 promotes the stemness of COAD cells. PPFIA4 mediates lncRNA MNX1-AS1 expression and affects COAD cell stemness. LncRNA MNX1-AS1 accelerates proliferation and migration, while it suppresses apoptosis. LncRNA MNX1-AS1/PPFIA4 accelerates tumor growth in COAD model. LncRNA MNX1-AS1/PPFIA4 activates the downstream AKT/HIF-1α signaling pathway to promote COAD development. LY29004 significantly inhibits the tumorigenic ability of lncRNA MNX1-AS1 and PPFIA4. Conclusion. LncRNA MNX1-AS1/PPFIA4 activates AKT/HIF-1α signal pathway to promote the stemness of COAD cells, which could be a new target for COAD treatment.

LncRNA MNX1-AS1 contributes to lung adenocarcinoma progression by targeting the miR-34a/SIRT1 axis

LncRNA MNX1-AS1 is known to be involved in progression of several tumor types. However, few studies have investigated the molecular mechanism of MNX1-AS1 in lung adenocarcinoma (LAC). To explore the function of MNX1-AS1 in the pathogenesis of LAC, qRT-PCR was performed to show MNX1-AS1 expression. MNX1-AS1 expression in LAC cells was suppressed by siRNA to detect the biologic behavior. The relationships among miR-34a, MNX1-AS1 and SIRT1 were confirmed by pull-down and dual-luciferase reporter assay. Whether MNX1-AS1 was involved in LAC by targeting miR-34a/SIRT1 axis was verified. MNX1-AS1 was up-regulated in LAC, and over-expression of MNX1-AS1 was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis. In A549 and H1299 cells, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were suppressed, the cell cycle was regulated, as well as apoptosis was increased after silencing MNX1-AS1. Mechanistically, MNX1-AS1 served as a ceRNA of miR-34a to down-regulate miR-34a expression. SIRT1 is targeted by miR-34a and its expression is regulated by MNX1-AS1 and miR-34a. Up-regulation of SIRT1 salvaged the effect of silencing MNX1-AS1 on A549 and H1299 cells, to some extent. These results showed that MNX1-AS1 contributes to LAC progression by targeting the miR-34a/SIRT1 axis.

Breast Cancer Genomics: Primary and Most Common Metastases

Specific genomic alterations have been found in primary breast cancer involving driver mutations that result in tumorigenesis. Metastatic breast cancer, which is uncommon at the time of disease onset, variably impacts patients throughout the course of their disease. Both the molecular profiles and diverse genomic pathways vary in the development and progression of metastatic breast cancer. From the most common metastatic site (bone), to the rare sites such as orbital, gynecologic, or pancreatic metastases, different levels of gene expression indicate the potential involvement of numerous genes in the development and spread of breast cancer. Knowledge of these alterations can, not only help predict future disease, but also lead to advancement in breast cancer treatments. This review discusses the somatic landscape of breast primary and metastatic tumors.

lncRNA MNX1‑AS1 promotes prostate cancer progression through regulating miR‑2113/MDM2 axis

A growing number of dysregulated long non-coding (lnc)RNAs have been verified to serve an essential role in human prostate cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms of lncRNA MNX1 Antisense RNA 1 (MNX1-AS1) in prostate cancer has not been explored. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the function of MNX1-AS1 in prostate cancer tumorigenesis and investigate the in-depth mechanism. The expression of MNX1-AS1, microRNA (miR)-2113 and murine double min 2 (MDM2) in prostate cancer tissues and corresponding normal tissues were assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The protein expression levels of MDM2 were detected by western blotting. LNCaP and PC-3 cells were transfected with short hairpin (sh)-MNX1-AS1, miR-2113 mimics, miR-2113 inhibitor and pCDH-MDM2 vector using Lipofectamine^® 3000. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion abilities were assessed by CCK-8 assay, colony formation and Transwell assay, respectively. Dual luciferase reporter assay was carried out to confirm the putative targets of MNX1-AS1 and miR-2113. Tumor formation experiment in nude mice was applied to evaluate the tumor growth effect of MNX1-AS1 in vivo. The expression of MNX1-AS1 was significantly upregulated in the prostate cancer tissues and cell lines. MNX1-AS1 knockdown suppressed the abilities of cell viability and migration and invasion in vitro and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Additionally, luciferase reporter assay revealed that MNX1-AS1 could target miR-2113 and negatively interacted with miR-2113 in prostate cancer cells. miR-2113 directly targeted to MDM2 and negatively modulated the expression of MDM2. Rescue assays suggested that the viability, migration and invasion of impaired cells triggered by transfection with sh-MNX1-AS1 alone could be recovered by co-transfection with sh-MNX1-AS1 + miR-2113 inhibitor or sh-MNX1-AS1 + pCDH- MDM2 vector. The present study demonstrated that MNX1-AS1 promoted prostate cancer progression through regulating miR-2113/ MDM2 axis.

Crosstalk of Histone and RNA Modifications Identified a Stromal-Activated Subtype with Poor Survival and Resistance to Immunotherapy in Gastric Cancer

Emerging evidence has revealed the pivotal role of epigenetic modifications in shaping the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, crosstalk between different modification types and their clinical relevance in cancers remain largely unexplored. In this study, using ChIP/MeRIP-seq data of seven human gastric cell lines, we systematically characterized the crosstalk of four epigenetic modification types including H3K4me1, H3K4me3, H3K27ac, and N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and identified a recurrent subtype with high FTO expression and low HDAC1 expression across three independent gastric cancer (GC) cohorts, which we named the epigenetic-modification-dysregulated (EMD) subtype. Patients of the EMD subtype were featured with poor survival, stromal activation, and immune suppression. Extensive relevance to clinical characteristics was observed in the EMD subtype, including the Lauren classification, MSI status, histological grade, TNM stage, the Asian Cancer Research Group classification, and the immune/fibrotic classification. An EMD score was then constructed using WGCNA and ssGSEA algorithms, to precisely recognize the EMD subtype and indicate prognosis and response to immunotherapy in multiple independent GC cohorts. Correlations of the EMD score with tumor mutation burden, tumor purity, aneuploidy score, tumorigenic pathways, TME characteristics, and FTO/HDAC1 ratio were measured. In vitro experiments were performed to demonstrate the correlation between FTO and the epithelial–mesenchymal transition pathway, which suggested FTO as a targetable vulnerability for GC patients with a high EMD score. Altogether, by comprehensively analyzing the epigenetic modification patterns of 1518 GC patients, we identified a novel stromal-activated subtype with poor survival and resistance to immunotherapy, which might benefit from the combined immune checkpoint inhibition therapy with FTO inhibition.

LncRNA MNX1-AS1: A novel oncogenic propellant in cancers

To date, recent studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key players in gene regulation processes involved in cancer pathogenesis. In general, Motor neuron and pancreas homeobox 1-antisense RNA1 (MNX1-AS1) is highly expressed in all cancers as reported so far and exerts oncogenic effects through different mechanisms. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the detailed mechanisms of potential functions of MNX1-AS1 in different cancer types as well as the latest knowledge highlighting the potential of MNX1-AS1 as a therapeutic target for cancer. Aberrant expression of MNX1-AS1 closely correlates with clinicopathological parameters. such as lymphatic metastasis, tumor size, tumor stage, OS and DFS. Thus, MNX1-AS1 can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker or even a therapeutic prognostic target. This article reviews its function, molecular mechanism and clinical prognosis in various malignancies.

Long Non-Coding NONRATG001910.2 Promotes the Proliferation of Rat Mesangial Cell Line HBZY-1 Through the miR-339-3p/CTNNB1 Axis

Chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) is one of the leading causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). A growing body of literature emphasizes the important role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the development and progression of the disease. However, the function of NONRATG001910.2 in the development of CGN was not well understood. This research aimed to investigate the effect of NONRATG001910.2 on CGN and revealed its potential molecular mechanisms. In this work, the expression of NONRATG001910.2 was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-RCR) in cell lines. We found that NONRATG001910.2 was significantly up-regulated in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced cells. High NONRATG001910.2 levels were associated with the development of CGN. In addition, NONRATG001910.2 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and cell cycle. At the same time, we found that up-regulation of microRNA-339-3p (miR-339-3p) abrogated the biological roles of NONRATG001910.2 up-regulation. Moreover, the knockdown of CTNNB1 can upregulate miR-339-3p expression, thereby inhibiting cell proliferation. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that NONRATG001910.2 in LPS-stimulated rat mesangial cell line HBZY-1 (HBZY-1) by targeting miR-339-3p, which subsequently promotes the expression of CTNNB1, and suggested that NONRATG001910.2 may be a potential biomarker.

Clinical significance of long noncoding RNA MNX1-AS1 in human cancers: a meta-analysis of cohort studies and bioinformatics analysis based on TCGA datasets

MNX1-AS1 expression has been proposed to be abnormally upregulated in multiple human malignancies and be linked with the survival outcome of patients. However, relevant conclusions were yielded based on the limited samples. Therefore, we herein implemented a meta-analysis of the published cohort studies to further decipher the relationship of MNX1-AS1 level to prognosis and clinicopathological features in various cancers. Additionally, using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets we carried out a bioinformatics analysis to make a further evaluation on the prognostic value of MNX1-AS1 expression. The results of meta-analysis indicated elevated MNX1-AS1 level closely correlated with poorer overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.97, 95% CI, 1.73-2.24; P < 0.00001), and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 2.24, 95% CI, 1.48-3.38; P = 0.0001) in cancers, which was confirmed by the bioinformatics analysis. Besides, it was observed the upregulated MNX1-AS1 level was significantly related to invasion depth, disease stage, tumor metastasis, and differentiation. Collectively, high MNX1-AS1 level correlated with poor survival outcome and aggressive clinicopathological characteristics in various cancers, suggesting that MNX1-AS1 may be applied as a prognostic marker and even a therapeutic target. Nevertheless, more high-quality studies designed with a large sample size should be conducted to further determine the clinical role of MNX1-AS1 in specific cancer types.

LncRNA MNX1-AS1 promotes ovarian cancer process via targeting the miR-744-5p/SOX12 axis

Purpose

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most common malignancy in women with high mortality. Increasing studies have revealed that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) MNX1-AS1 has a promoting effect on various cancers. However, the mechanisms of MNX1-AS1 in OC are still unclear. Therefore, this study focused on exploring the mechanisms of MNX1-AS1 in OC.

Materials and methods

The expression of SOX12 at the protein level was detected by western blot. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK8 assay and colony formation assay. Cell cycle and cell apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry. Wound-healing assay, transwell assay and western blot were used to detect the ability of cell migration and invasion. The target binding was confirmed through the luciferase reporter assay.

Results

The expression of MNX1-AS1 was increased in OC tumor tissues and cells. Elevated MNX1-AS1 expression is associated with advanced stage and lower overall survival rate. Knockdown of MNX1-AS1 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, blocked cell cycle, and promoted cell apoptosis in SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3 cells. MNX1-AS1 was competitively binding with miR-744-5p, and its downstream target gene was SOX12. miR-544-5p expression was decreased, while SOX12 expression was increased in OC tumor tissues and cells. Overexpression of miR-744-5p inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and promoted cell apoptosis in SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3 cells.

Conclusion

MNX1-AS1 promoted the development of OC through miR-744-5p/SOX12 axis. This study revealed a novel mechanism of MNX1-AS1 in OC, which may provide a new treatment or scanning target for OC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13048-021-00910-0.

Genomic Instability Promotes the Progression of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Through Influencing the Immune Microenvironment

Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are now under discussion as novel promising biomarkers for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, the role of genomic instability-associated lncRNA signatures in tumors has not been thoroughly uncovered. The purpose of our study is to probe the role of genomic instability-derived lncRNA signature (GILncSig) and to further investigate the mechanism of genomic instability-mediated ccRCC progression. Methods: The transcriptome data and somatic mutation profiles of ccRCC as well as clinical characteristics used in this study were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and Gene Expression Omnibus database. Lasso regression analysis was performed to construct the GILncSig. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to elucidate the biological functions and relative pathways. CIBERSORT and EPIC algorithm were applied to calculate the proportion of immune cells in ccRCC. ESTIMATE algorithm was utilized to compute the immune microenvironment scores. Results: In total, 148 novel genomic instability-derived lncRNAs in ccRCC were identified. Immediately, on the basis of univariate cox analysis and lasso analysis, a GILncSig was appraised, through which the patients were allocated into High-Risk and Low-Risk groups with significantly different characteristics and prognoses. In addition, we confirmed that the somatic mutation count, tumor mutation burden, and the expression of UBQLN4, which were ascertainably associated with genomic instability, were significantly correlated with the GILncSig, indicating its reliability as a measurement of the genomic instability. Furthermore, the efficiency of GILncSig in prognostic aspects was better than the single mutation gene in ccRCC. In addition, MNX1-AS1 was defined to be a potential biomarker characterized by strong correlation with clinical features. Moreover, GSEA results indicated that the IL6/JAK/STAT3/SIGNALING pathway could be considered as a potential mechanism of genomic instability to influence tumor progression. Besides, the immune microenvironment showed significant differences between the GS-like group and the GU-like group, which was specifically manifested as high expression of CTLA4, GITR, TNFSF14, and regulatory T cells (Tregs) as well as low expression of endothelial cells (ECs) in the GU-like group. Finally, the prognostic value and clinical relevance of GILncSig were verified in GEO datasets and other urinary tumors in TCGA dataset. Conclusion: In conclusion, our study provided a new perspective for the role of lncRNAs in genomic instability and revealed that genomic instability may mediate tumor progression by affecting immunity. Besides, MNX1-AS1 played critical roles in promoting the progression of ccRCC, which may be a potential therapeutic target. What is more, the immune atlas of genomic instability was characterized by high expression of CTLA4, GITR, TNFSF14, and Tregs, and low expression of ECs.

Keep your eyes peeled for long noncoding RNAs: Explaining their boundless role in cancer metastasis, drug resistance, and clinical application

Cancer metastasis and drug resistance are two major obstacles in the treatment of cancer and therefore, the leading cause of cancer-associated mortalities worldwide. Hence, an in-depth understanding of these processes and identification of the underlying key players could help design a better therapeutic regimen to treat cancer. Earlier thought to be merely transcriptional junk and having passive or secondary function, recent advances in the genomic research have unravelled that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play pivotal roles in diverse physiological as well as pathological processes including cancer metastasis and drug resistance. LncRNAs can regulate various steps of the complex metastatic cascade such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, migration and metastatic colonization, and also affect the sensitivity of cancer cells to various chemotherapeutic drugs. A substantial body of literature for more than a decade of research evince that lncRNAs can regulate gene expression at different levels such as epigenetic, transcriptional, posttranscriptional, translational and posttranslational levels, depending on their subcellular localization and through their ability to interact with DNA, RNA and proteins. In this review, we mainly focus on how lncRNAs affect cancer metastasis by modulating expression of key metastasis-associated genes at various levels of gene regulation. We also discuss how lncRNAs confer cancer cells either sensitivity or resistance to various chemo-therapeutic drugs via different mechanisms. Finally, we highlight the immense potential of lncRNAs as prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers as well as therapeutic targets in cancer.

The lncRNA ADAMTS9-AS2 Regulates RPL22 to Modulate TNBC Progression via Controlling the TGF-β Signaling Pathway

Background

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key regulators of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) progression, but further work is needed to fully understand the functional relevance of these non-coding RNAs in this cancer type. Herein, we explored the functional role of the lncRNA ADAMTS9-AS2 in TNBC.

Methods

Next-generation sequencing was conducted to compare the expression of different lncRNAs in TNBC tumor and paracancerous tissues, after which ADAMTS9-AS2differential expression in these tumor tissues was evaluated via qPCR. The functional role of this lncRNA was assessed by overexpressing it in vitro and in vivo. FISH and PCR were used to assess the localization of ADAMTS9-AS2within cells. Downstream targets of ADAMTS9-AS2 signaling were identified via RNA pulldown assays and transcriptomic sequencing.

Results

The expression ofADAMTS9-AS2 was decreased in TNBC tumor samples (P < 0.05), with such downregulation being correlated with TNM stage, age, and tumor size. Overexpressing ADAMTS9-AS2 promoted the apoptotic death and cell cycle arrest of tumor cells in vitro and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. From a mechanistic perspective, ADAMTS9-AS2 was found to control the expression of RPL22 and to thereby modulate TGF-β signaling to control TNBC progression.

Conclusion

ADAMTS9-AS2 controls the expression of RPL22 and thereby regulates TNBC malignancy via the TGF-β signaling pathway.

Long noncoding RNA-dependent methylation of nonhistone proteins

In the last decade, an intriguing new paradigm of regulation has emerged in which some transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides and no coding potential, long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs), exhibit the capability to control posttranslational modifications of nonhistone proteins in both invertebrates and vertebrates. The extent of such a regulation is still largely unknown. We performed a systematic review to identify and evaluate the potential impact of lncRNA-dependent methylation of nonhistone proteins. Collectively, these lncRNAs primarily act as scaffolds upon which methyltransferases (MTases) and targets are brought in proximity. In this manner, the N-MTase activity of EZH2, protein arginine-MTase 1/4/5, and SMYD2 is exploited to modulate the stability or the compartmentalization of several nonhistone proteins with roles in cell signaling, gene expression, and RNA processing. Moreover, these lncRNAs can indirectly affect the methylation of nonhistone proteins by transcriptional or posttranscriptional regulation of MTases. Strikingly, the lncRNAs/MTases/nonhistone proteins networking seem to be relevant to carcinogenesis and neurological disorders. This article is categorized under: Regulatory RNAs/RNAi/Riboswitches > Regulatory RNAs.

Use of cucurbitacins for lung cancer research and therapy

As the main substance in some traditional Chinese medicines, cucurbitacins have been used to treat hepatitis for decades in China. Currently, the use of cucurbitacins against cancer and other diseases has achieved towering popularity among researchers worldwide, as detailed in this review with summarized tables. Numerous studies have reported the potential tumor-killing activities of cucurbitacins in multiple aspects of human malignancies. Continuous research on its anticancer activity mechanisms also brings a glimmer of light to the treatment of patients with lung cancer. In line with the promising roles of cucurbitacins against cancer, through various molecular signaling pathways, it is justifiable to propose the use of cucurbitacins as a potential mainline chemotherapy before the onset and after the diagnosis of lung cancers. Here, this article mainly summarized the findings about the biological functions and underlying mechanisms of cucurbitacins on lung cancer pathogenesis and treatment. In addition, we also discussed the safety and efficacy of their application for further research and even clinical practice.