Hamilton Michael J, Young Matthew D, Sauer Silvia, Martinez Ernest
Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
AIMS Biophys. 2015;2(4):794-809. doi: 10.3934/biophy.2015.4.794. Epub 2015 Dec 1.
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of RNA molecules that are changing how researchers view eukaryotic gene regulation. Once considered to be non-functional products of low-level aberrant transcription from non-coding regions of the genome, lncRNAs are now viewed as important epigenetic regulators and several lncRNAs have now been demonstrated to be critical players in the development and/or maintenance of cancer. Similarly, the emerging variety of interactions between lncRNAs and MYC, a well-known oncogenic transcription factor linked to most types of cancer, have caught the attention of many biomedical researchers. Investigations exploring the dynamic interactions between lncRNAs and MYC, referred to as the lncRNA-MYC network, have proven to be especially complex. Genome-wide studies have shown that MYC transcriptionally regulates many lncRNA genes. Conversely, recent reports identified lncRNAs that regulate MYC expression both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. These findings are of particular interest because they suggest roles of lncRNAs as regulators of MYC oncogenic functions and the possibility that targeting lncRNAs could represent a novel avenue to cancer treatment. Here, we briefly review the current understanding of how lncRNAs regulate chromatin structure and gene transcription, and then focus on the new developments in the emerging field exploring the lncRNA-MYC network in cancer.
长链非编码RNA（lncRNAs）是一类RNA分子，它们正在改变研究人员对真核基因调控的看法。lncRNAs曾被认为是基因组非编码区低水平异常转录的无功能产物，现在则被视为重要的表观遗传调节因子，并且已经证明几种lncRNAs在癌症的发生发展和/或维持过程中起着关键作用。同样，lncRNAs与MYC（一种与大多数类型癌症相关的著名致癌转录因子）之间新出现的各种相互作用也引起了许多生物医学研究人员的关注。探索lncRNAs与MYC之间动态相互作用（即lncRNA-MYC网络）的研究已证明异常复杂。全基因组研究表明，MYC可转录调控许多lncRNA基因。相反，最近的报告发现了在转录和转录后水平上调控MYC表达的lncRNAs。这些发现特别令人感兴趣，因为它们表明lncRNAs作为MYC致癌功能调节因子的作用，以及靶向lncRNAs可能代表一种癌症治疗新途径的可能性。在这里，我们简要回顾一下目前对lncRNAs如何调控染色质结构和基因转录的理解，然后重点关注探索癌症中lncRNA-MYC网络这一新兴领域的新进展。
