College & Hospital of Stomatology, Anhui Medical University, Key Lab. of Oral Diseases Research of Anhui Province, Hefei, 230032, China.
Department of Periodontology, College and Hospital of Stomatology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, Anhui Province, China.
Mol Cancer. 2019 May 27;18(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s12943-019-1021-3.
There is growing evidence that regions of the genome that cannot encode proteins play an important role in diseases. These regions are usually transcribed into long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). LncRNAs, little or no coding potential, are defined as capped transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides. New sequencing technologies have shown that a large number of aberrantly expressed lncRNAs are associated with multiple cancer types and indicated they have emerged as an important class of pervasive genes during the development and progression of cancer. However, the underlying mechanism in cancer is still unknown. Therefore, it is necessary to elucidate the lncRNA function. Notably, many lncRNAs dysregulation are associated with Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and affect various aspects of cellular homeostasis, including proliferation, survival, migration or genomic stability. This review expounds the up- or down-regulation of lncRNAs in OSCC and the molecular mechanisms by which lncRNAs perform their function in the malignant cell. Finally, the potential of lncRNAs as non-invasive biomarkers for OSCC diagnosis are also described. LncRNAs hold promise as prospective novel therapeutic targets, but more research is needed to gain a better understanding of their biologic function.
越来越多的证据表明，不能编码蛋白质的基因组区域在疾病中发挥重要作用。这些区域通常被转录为长非编码 RNA（lncRNA）。lncRNA 是指具有帽子结构、长度超过 200 个核苷酸的转录本，但几乎没有或没有编码潜力。新的测序技术表明，大量异常表达的 lncRNA 与多种癌症类型相关，并表明它们在癌症的发生和发展过程中已成为一类重要的普遍基因。然而，癌症的潜在机制仍不清楚。因此，有必要阐明 lncRNA 的功能。值得注意的是，许多 lncRNA 的失调与口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）有关，并影响细胞内稳态的各个方面，包括增殖、存活、迁移或基因组稳定性。本文阐述了 lncRNA 在 OSCC 中的上调或下调及其在恶性细胞中发挥功能的分子机制。最后，还描述了 lncRNA 作为 OSCC 诊断的非侵入性生物标志物的潜力。lncRNA 有望成为有前途的新型治疗靶点，但需要进一步研究以更好地了解它们的生物学功能。
