Häfner Sophia J, Talvard Thomas G, Lund Anders H
Biotech Research and Innovation Centre, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaloes Vej 5, DK-2200, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Dansk Fundamental Metrologi, Matematiktorvet 307, DK-2600, Lyngby, Denmark.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2017 May;65:1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.07.011. Epub 2016 Jul 18.
The striking similarities between pluripotent and cancer cells, such as immortality and increased stress resistance, have long been acknowledged. Numerous studies searched for and successfully identified common molecular players and pathways, thus providing an entirely new challenge and potential therapeutic angle by targeting cancer cells or a specific stem population of the tumor via pluripotency associated processes. However, these strategies have until now mainly been restricted to proteins. Nonetheless, it has become clear over the past decade that the overwhelming majority of the genome produces noncoding transcripts, many of which have proven both functional and crucial for key cellular processes, including stemness maintenance. Moreover, numerous long noncoding RNAs are deregulated in cancer, but little is known concerning their functions and molecular mechanisms. Consequently, it seems essential to integrate the noncoding transcripts into the picture of the stemness-cancer connection. Whereas a number of studies have addressed the expression of lncRNAs in cancer stem cells, no systematic approach has yet been undertaken to identify lncRNAs implicated in the maintenance of the embryonic stemness state that is hijacked by cancer cells. The aim of this review is to highlight long noncoding RNAs with shared functions in stemness and cancer and to outline the current state of a field in its infancy, the search for long noncoding transcripts in cancer stem cells.
多能干细胞与癌细胞之间显著的相似性，如永生性和更强的抗应激能力，早已为人所知。众多研究寻找并成功鉴定出了共同的分子参与者和信号通路，从而通过多能性相关过程靶向癌细胞或肿瘤的特定干细胞群体，提供了一个全新的挑战和潜在的治疗角度。然而，到目前为止，这些策略主要局限于蛋白质。尽管如此，在过去十年中已经明确，基因组的绝大多数产生非编码转录本，其中许多已被证明对包括干性维持在内的关键细胞过程具有功能性且至关重要。此外，许多长链非编码RNA在癌症中表达失调，但它们的功能和分子机制却知之甚少。因此，将非编码转录本纳入干性与癌症关联的图景似乎至关重要。虽然已有多项研究探讨了长链非编码RNA在癌症干细胞中的表达，但尚未采取系统的方法来鉴定与癌细胞劫持的胚胎干性状态维持相关的长链非编码RNA。本综述的目的是强调在干性和癌症中具有共同功能的长链非编码RNA，并概述这个尚处于起步阶段的领域的现状，即在癌症干细胞中寻找长链非编码转录本。
