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Review
. 2012 Mar;17(1):43-58.
doi: 10.1007/s10911-012-9247-3. Epub 2012 Mar 9.

Noncoding RNAs involved in mammary gland development and tumorigenesis: there's a long way to go

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Review

Noncoding RNAs involved in mammary gland development and tumorigenesis: there's a long way to go

Amy N Shore et al. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia. 2012 Mar.

Abstract

The mammalian genome encodes thousands of noncoding RNAs. These noncoding transcripts are broadly categorized into short noncoding RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs), and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) of greater than 200 nt. While the role of miRNAs in development and cancer biology has been extensively studied, much less is known about the vast majority of noncoding transcripts represented by lncRNAs. LncRNAs are emerging as key regulators of developmental processes and as such, their frequent misregulation in tumorigenesis and disease in not unexpected. The role of lncRNAs in mammary gland development and breast cancer is just beginning to be elucidated. This review will discuss the role of lncRNAs in mammalian and mammary gland development. In addition, we will review the contributions of lncRNAs to the stepwise progression of tumorigenesis, highlighting the role of lncRNAs in breast cancer.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
LncRNAs regulate mammary epithelial differentiation. a A schematic diagram illustrates a mammary epithelial luminal progenitor and its progeny. PINC and Zfas1 may contribute to alveolar cell fate commitment. PINC and Zfas1 inhibit terminal alveolar differentiation thereby maintaining alveolar progenitor cells. b A hypothetical model shows the role of PINC in alveolar progenitor cells. A PINC-PRC2 complex targets and represses alveolar differentiation genes by methylating histone H3 at lysine 27 (me-K27). In cells lacking PINC, the repressive marks are removed and alveolar differentiation genes are transcribed to induce terminal differentiation

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