Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150000, P.R. China.
Department of Pathology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150000, P.R. China.
Oncol Rep. 2018 Nov;40(5):2423-2434. doi: 10.3892/or.2018.6684. Epub 2018 Sep 6.
P‑element‑induced wimpy testis (PIWI)‑interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are epigenetic‑related short ncRNAs that participate in chromatin regulation, transposon silencing, and modification of specific gene sites. These epigenetic factors or alterations are also involved in the growth of a variety of human cancers, including lung, breast, and colon cancer. Accumulating evidence has revealed that tumor metastasis and invasion involve genetic and epigenetic factors. Cancer metastasis is characterized by epigenetic alterations including DNA methylation and histone modification. Changes in DNA methylation, H3K9me3 heterochromatin and transposable elements have been detected in several cancers. piRNAs may function in gene silencing and gene modification upstream or downstream of oncogenes in cancer cell lines or cancer tissues. In addition to piRNAs, PIWI proteins can be used as biomarkers for prognosis, diagnosis and clinical evaluation and may be factors in cancer metastasis. Here, we elucidated the possible mechanisms by which piRNAs regulate cancer metastasis, including but not restricted to influencing DNA and histone methylation and transposable elements.
P 元素诱导的生精细胞瘤（PIWI）相互作用 RNA（piRNAs）是参与染色质调控、转座子沉默和特定基因位点修饰的与表观遗传相关的短 ncRNA。这些表观遗传因素或改变也参与了多种人类癌症的生长，包括肺癌、乳腺癌和结肠癌。越来越多的证据表明，肿瘤转移和侵袭涉及遗传和表观遗传因素。癌症转移的特征是表观遗传改变，包括 DNA 甲基化和组蛋白修饰。在几种癌症中已经检测到 DNA 甲基化、H3K9me3 异染色质和转座元件的变化。piRNAs 可能在癌症细胞系或癌症组织中的癌基因的上游或下游参与基因沉默和基因修饰。除了 piRNAs 之外，PIWI 蛋白可用作预后、诊断和临床评估的生物标志物，并且可能是癌症转移的因素。在这里，我们阐明了 piRNAs 调节癌症转移的可能机制，包括但不限于影响 DNA 和组蛋白甲基化和转座元件。
