Lammens Tim, Durinck Kaat, Wallaert Annelynn, Speleman Frank, Van Vlierberghe Pieter
aDepartment of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Ghent University Hospital bCancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG) cCenter for Medical Genetics Ghent, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Curr Opin Hematol. 2017 Jul;24(4):353-358. doi: 10.1097/MOH.0000000000000354.
Over the last years, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as putative regulators of malignant hematopoietic development. Here, we review recent literature on the involvement of lncRNAs in leukemia, including their role in driving or sustaining disease and their potential impact on diagnosis, classification, and prognosis.
Leukemogenesis is a complex process resulting from the accumulation of multiple genetic alterations. Over the last years, advances in high-throughput sequencing and transcriptome profiling have enabled the identification of lncRNAs involved in leukemia development. lncRNAs are able to distinguish different subtypes of human leukemia and several reports have identified specific patterns of lncRNA expression associated with clinical patient characteristics. Although functional studies on the actual role of these lncRNAs during transformation remain scarce, emerging evidence suggests that complex interactions between coding and non-coding transcript are truly involved in leukemia development.
Introduction of lncRNAs as an additional layer of complexity in human leukemia might provide new molecular genetic insights in the biology of this disease and could create unique opportunities for the identification of novel drug targets and diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers.
在过去几年中，长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）已成为恶性造血发育的潜在调节因子。在此，我们综述了lncRNA在白血病中作用的近期文献，包括它们在驱动或维持疾病中的作用以及对诊断、分类和预后的潜在影响。
白血病发生是一个由多种基因改变积累导致的复杂过程。在过去几年中，高通量测序和转录组分析技术的进展使得鉴定参与白血病发生的lncRNA成为可能。lncRNA能够区分人类白血病的不同亚型，并且有几份报告已经确定了与临床患者特征相关的lncRNA表达的特定模式。尽管关于这些lncRNA在转化过程中实际作用的功能研究仍然很少，但新出现的证据表明，编码和非编码转录本之间的复杂相互作用确实参与了白血病的发生。
将lncRNA引入人类白血病这一复杂体系，可能为该疾病的生物学提供新的分子遗传学见解，并可能为鉴定新型药物靶点以及诊断或预后生物标志物创造独特机会。
