RNA Splicing and Cancer

Abstract

RNA splicing is an essential process that governs many aspects of cellular proliferation, survival, and differentiation. Considering the importance of RNA splicing in gene regulation, alterations in this pathway have been implicated in many human cancers. Large-scale genomic studies have uncovered a spectrum of splicing machinery mutations that contribute to tumorigenesis. Moreover, cancer cells are capable of hijacking the expression of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), leading to dysfunctional gene splicing and tumor-specific dependencies. Advances in next-generation RNA sequencing have revealed tumor-specific isoforms associated with these alterations, including the presence of neoantigens, which serve as potential immunotherapeutic targets. In this review, we discuss the various mechanisms by which cancer cells exploit RNA splicing to promote tumor growth and the current therapeutic landscape for splicing-based therapies.

Keywords: AML; RBPs; immunotherapy; neoantigen; spliceosome; splicing.