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Dysregulation of RNA in cancer
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Abstract:
The development of cancer is a complex multistage process, which is primarily due to the unbalance of cellular homeostasis. In addition to the well-characterized protein coding dysfunction and DNA mutation, dysregulation of non-coding RNAs including microRNA (miRNA), long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and circulating miRNA was found in the initiation and progression of cancer. Moreover, aberrant RNA transcription, processing and regulation, such as RNA alternative splicing, RNA editing and competing endogenous RNA regulation, have emerged as important regulatory molecules or mechanisms in cancer cells. These non-coding RNAs may play vital roles in tumorigenesis by regulating oncogene and tumor suppressor gene at either post-transcriptional level or epigenetic level, and act as potential targets for tumor diagnosis, prognosis and cancer therapy. Through competing endogenous RNA, the lncRNA cross-talk with mRNA in a miRNA-dependent manner, and thus form a regulatory network. Via RNA alternative splicing, oncogene and tumor-suppressor gene could generate tumor-specific alternative-splicing transcripts, and therefore affect their biological functions. However, several questions remain to be elucidated: What are the underlying mechanisms of abnormal expression pattern and dysregulation of RNA in cancer? How do the aberrant expression and function of RNAs affect tumorigenesis and progression? Which abnormal RNA can be used as a biomarker for tumor diagnosis, prognosis, as well as the therapeutic target for cancers? Taken together, RNA dysregulation in cancer has become a new research frontier in cancer research.
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Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81230074)
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