Genetic Pharmacology Research Group, Clinical Pharmacy Unit, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, German University in Cairo, Cairo 11835, Egypt.
World J Gastroenterol. 2018 Feb 7;24(5):549-572. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i5.549.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and aggressive cancers worldwide. HCC is the fifth common malignancy in the world and the second leading cause of cancer death in Asia. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are RNAs with a length greater than 200 nucleotides that do not encode proteins. lncRNAs can regulate gene expression and protein synthesis in several ways by interacting with DNA, RNA and proteins in a sequence specific manner. They could regulate cellular and developmental processes through either gene inhibition or gene activation. Many studies have shown that dysregulation of lncRNAs is related to many human diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, genetic disorders, neurological diseases, immune mediated disorders and cancers. However, the study of lncRNAs is challenging as they are poorly conserved between species, their expression levels aren't as high as that of mRNAs and have great interpatient variations. The study of lncRNAs expression in cancers have been a breakthrough as it unveils potential biomarkers and drug targets for cancer therapy and helps understand the mechanism of pathogenesis. This review discusses many long non-coding RNAs and their contribution in HCC, their role in development, metastasis, and prognosis of HCC and how to regulate and target these lncRNAs as a therapeutic tool in HCC treatment in the future.
肝细胞癌（HCC）是全球最常见和侵袭性最强的癌症之一。HCC 是全球第五大常见恶性肿瘤，也是亚洲癌症死亡的第二大主要原因。长链非编码 RNA（lncRNA）是长度大于 200 个核苷酸的 RNA，不编码蛋白质。lncRNA 可以通过与 DNA、RNA 和蛋白质以序列特异性的方式相互作用，以多种方式调节基因表达和蛋白质合成。它们可以通过基因抑制或基因激活来调节细胞和发育过程。许多研究表明，lncRNA 的失调与许多人类疾病有关，如心血管疾病、遗传疾病、神经疾病、免疫介导的疾病和癌症。然而，lncRNA 的研究具有挑战性，因为它们在物种间的保守性差，其表达水平不如 mRNAs 高，并且具有很大的个体间差异。对癌症中 lncRNAs 表达的研究是一个突破，因为它揭示了癌症治疗的潜在生物标志物和药物靶点，并有助于理解发病机制。本文综述了许多长链非编码 RNA 及其在 HCC 中的作用，它们在 HCC 的发展、转移和预后中的作用，以及如何在未来将这些 lncRNAs 作为 HCC 治疗的治疗工具进行调控和靶向。
