Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Cells. 2021 Dec 28;11(1):73. doi: 10.3390/cells11010073.
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a fundamental physiologically relevant process that occurs during morphogenesis and organ development. In a pathological setting, the transition from epithelial toward mesenchymal cell phenotype is hijacked by cancer cells, allowing uncontrolled metastatic dissemination. The competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) hypothesis proposes a competitive environment resembling a large-scale regulatory network of gene expression circuits where alterations in the expression of both protein-coding and non-coding genes can make relevant contributions to EMT progression in cancer. The complex regulatory diversity is exerted through an array of diverse epigenetic factors, reaching beyond the transcriptional control that was previously thought to single-handedly govern metastatic dissemination. The present review aims to unravel the competitive relationships between naturally occurring ceRNA transcripts for the shared pool of the miRNA-200 family, which play a pivotal role in EMT related to cancer dissemination. Upon acquiring more knowledge and clinical evidence on non-genetic factors affecting neoplasia, modulation of the expression levels of diverse ceRNAs may allow for the development of novel prognostic/diagnostic markers and reveal potential targets for the disruption of cancer-related EMT.
上皮-间充质转化（EMT）是一种在形态发生和器官发育过程中发生的基本生理相关过程。在病理环境中，上皮细胞向间充质细胞表型的转变被癌细胞劫持，导致不受控制的转移性扩散。竞争内源性 RNA（ceRNA）假说提出了一种竞争性环境，类似于基因表达电路的大规模调控网络，其中蛋白质编码和非编码基因的表达变化都可以对癌症中的 EMT 进展做出相关贡献。复杂的调控多样性是通过一系列不同的表观遗传因素发挥作用的，这些因素超出了先前认为单独控制转移扩散的转录控制。本综述旨在揭示 miRNA-200 家族共享池中原发性 ceRNA 转录本之间的竞争关系，这些 ceRNA 转录本在与癌症扩散相关的 EMT 中发挥着关键作用。随着对影响肿瘤发生的非遗传因素的更多了解和临床证据，调节多种 ceRNA 的表达水平可能有助于开发新的预后/诊断标志物，并揭示破坏与癌症相关的 EMT 的潜在靶点。
