Non-coding RNAs in cancer diagnosis and therapy

Abstract

Cancer invasion involves a series of fundamental heterogeneous steps, with each step being distinct in its type regarding its dependence on various oncogenic pathways. Over the past few years, researchers have been focusing on targeted therapies to treat malignancies relying not only on a single oncogenic pathway, but on multiple pathways. Scientists have recently identified potential targets in the human genome considered earlier as non-functional but the discovery of their potential role in gene regulation has put new insights to cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutics. Non coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been identified as the key gene expression regulators. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) reveal diverse gene expression profiles in benign and metastatic tumours. Improved clinical research may lead to better knowledge of their biogenesis and mechanism and eventually be used as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic agents. Small non coding RNAs or micro RNA (miRNA) are capable of reprogramming multiple oncogenic cascades and, thus, can be used as target agents. This review is aimed to give a perspective of non coding transcription in cancer metastasis with an eye on rising clinical relevance of non coding RNAs and their mechanism of action focusing on potential therapeutics for cancer pathogenesis.

Keywords: Genetic expression; Metastasis; Oncogene; Oncomirs; Transcription; microRNA.

Fig. 1

Therapeutics of cancer through miRNA is based upon either blocking the activity of miRNA as oncogenes or by expressing the activity of miRNA functioning as tumour suppressor agents. In normal cases, complementary binding of miRNA to the target genes results in the induction of apoptosis, cellular growth and ultimately cell death. However, in the case of miRNA functioning as tumour suppressors, the defects of miRNA biogenesis is integrated to reduce in mature miRNA and unfortunate miRNA target oncoprotein expression profile, ultimately consequences cellular proliferation, angiogenesis, halts apoptosis and tumorigenesis. In the second case, where miRNA is functioning as an oncogene, the overexpression of this oncogene due to defects in differentiation tissues at any stage of growth suppresses the expression of miRNA target tumour suppressor genes leading to the progression of metastasis and cancer growth.