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Review
. 2018 Apr 12;3(2):42-53.
doi: 10.1016/j.ncrna.2018.04.001. eCollection 2018 Jun.

Crosstalk mechanisms between the WNT signaling pathway and long non-coding RNAs

Vasiliki Zarkou  1   2 , Alexandros Galaras  1   3 , Antonis Giakountis  1   4 , Pantelis Hatzis  1
Affiliations
Review

Crosstalk mechanisms between the WNT signaling pathway and long non-coding RNAs

Vasiliki Zarkou et al. Noncoding RNA Res. .

Erratum in

Abstract

The WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway controls a plethora of biological processes throughout animal development and adult life. Because of its fundamental role during animal lifespan, the WNT pathway is subject to strict positive and negative multi-layered regulation, while its aberrant activity causes a wide range of pathologies, including cancer. At present, despite the inroads into the molecules involved in WNT-mediated transcriptional responses, the fine-tuning of WNT pathway activity and the totality of its target genes have not been fully elucidated. Over the past few years, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), RNA transcripts longer that 200nt that do not code for proteins, have emerged as significant transcriptional regulators. Recent studies show that lncRNAs can modulate WNT pathway outcome by affecting gene expression through diversified mechanisms, from the transcriptional to post-translational level. In this review, we selectively discuss those lncRNA-mediated mechanisms we believe the most important to WNT pathway modulation.

Keywords: Cancer; Long non coding RNAs; WNT/β-catenin signaling; lncRNAs.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Several lncRNAs interact with transcription factors recruiting them to their target genes (e.g. RBM5-AS1) while others titrate them away from their DNA targets (e.g. CCAL).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Several lncRNAs bind to specific combinations of regulatory proteins, potentially acting as scaffold elements within ribonucleoprotein complexes, stabilizing their targets (e.g. CASC11, MYU).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
LncRNAs activate (e.g. NBAT1) or repress (e.g. Lnc4a) gene expression by modulating the recruitment of chromatin-modifying complexes to their DNA targets.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
LncRNAs can regulate gene expression by participating in chromatin looping (e.g. WiNTRLINC1).
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Several lncRNAs work at the post-transcriptional level as competing endogenous RNAs for microRNAs, titrating microRNA effector complexes away from their mRNA targets (e.g. HNF1A-AS1).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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