Identifying colorectal cancer-specific vulnerabilities in the Wnt-driven long non-coding transcriptome.

BACKGROUND

Aberrant Wnt pathway activation is a key driver of colorectal cancer (CRC) and is essential to sustain tumour growth and progression. Although the downstream protein-coding target genes of the Wnt cascade are well known, the long non-coding transcriptome has not yet been fully resolved.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aim to comprehensively reveal the Wnt-regulated long non-coding transcriptome and exploit essential molecules as novel therapeutic targets.

DESIGN

We used global run-on sequencing to define β-catenin-regulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in CRC. CRISPRi dropout screens were subsequently used to establish the functional relevance of a subset of these lncRNAs for long-term expansion of CRC.

RESULTS

We uncovered that is essential for cancer cell clonogenic outgrowth. Mechanistically, regulates MYC expression levels to promote CRC stem cell functionality and prevent terminal differentiation. Furthermore, we developed effective small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based therapeutics to target RNA .

CONCLUSION

We propose that cancer-specific Wnt-regulated lncRNAs provide novel therapeutic opportunities to interfere with the Wnt pathway, which has so far defied effective pharmacological inhibition.