Non-coding RNAs in GI cancers: from cancer hallmarks to clinical utility
Abstract
One of the most unexpected discoveries in molecular oncology, in the last decades, was the identification of a new layer of protein coding gene regulation by transcripts that do not codify for proteins, the non-coding RNAs. These represent a heterogeneous category of transcripts that interact with many types of genetic elements, including regulatory DNAs, coding and other non-coding transcripts and directly to proteins. The final outcome, in the malignant context, is the regulation of any of the cancer hallmarks. Non-coding RNAs represent the most abundant type of hormones that contribute significantly to cell-to cell communication, revealing a complex interplay between tumour cells, tumour microenvironment cells and immune cells. Consequently, profiling their abundance in bodily fluids became a mainstream of biomarker identification. Therapeutic targeting of non-coding RNAs represents a new option for clinicians that is currently under development. This review will present the biology and translational value of three of the most studied categories on non-coding RNAs, the microRNAs, the long non-coding RNAs and the circular RNAs. We will also focus on some aspirational concepts that can help in the development of clinical applications related to non-coding RNAs, including using pyknons to discover new non-coding RNAs, targeting human-specific transcripts which are expressed specifically in the tumour cell and using non-coding RNAs to increase the efficiency of immunotherapy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 07, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1136/gutjnl-2019-318279
Entities
People
- George A. Calin
- Jaffer Ajani
- Mihnea Paul Dragomir
- Scott Kopetz
Organizations
- National Cancer Institute
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- National Institutes of Health
- United States Department of Defense