Role of noncoding RNA in drug resistance of prostate cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer around the world. Androgen-deprivation treatment and chemotherapy are the curative approaches used to suppress prostate cancer progression. However, drug resistance is extensively and hard to overcome even though remarkable progress has been made in recent decades. Noncoding RNAs, such as miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs, are a group of cellular RNAs which participate in various cellular processes and diseases. Recently, accumulating evidence has highlighted the vital role of non-coding RNA in the development of drug resistance in prostate cancer. In this review, we summarize the important roles of these three classes of noncoding RNA in drug resistance and the potential therapeutic applications in this disease.

Fig. 1. Biogenesis of several noncoding RNAs.

a Transcription of miRNAs is regulated by RNA polymerase II. The pri-miRNAs are processed by several consecutive cleavages to produce mature miRNAs since the pri-miRNAs are transcripted. Finally, mature miRNAs are incorporated into the Argonaute to form miRNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). b According to the different origin transcription sites, lncRNAs can be divided into various types: intronic lncRNAs, exonic lncRNAs, promoter-associated lncRNAs, and enhancer-associated lncRNAs. c Most circRNAs are derived from the pre-mRNA. Due to the different compositions, circRNAs are classified into several types, including exonic circRNAs, exonic-intronic circRNAs, and intronic circRNAs.

Fig. 2. Schematic presentation of noncoding RNAs which participate in drug resistance of prostate cancer.

A summary diagram of noncoding RNAs participated in the drug resistance of prostate cancer. Several miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs have been found to participate in drug resistance by influencing RTK pathway related genes, apotptosis, AR-v7 and histone modification.