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Review
. 2022 Feb 7;11(3):577.
doi: 10.3390/cells11030577.

Regulation of LncRNAs in Melanoma and Their Functional Roles in the Metastatic Process

Marine Melixetian  1 , Pier Giuseppe Pelicci  1   2 , Luisa Lanfrancone  1
Affiliations
Review

Regulation of LncRNAs in Melanoma and Their Functional Roles in the Metastatic Process

Marine Melixetian et al. Cells. .

Abstract

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key regulators of numerous intracellular processes leading to tumorigenesis. They are frequently deregulated in cancer, functioning as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. As they act through multiple mechanisms, it is not surprising that they may exert dual functions in the same tumor. In melanoma, a highly invasive and metastatic tumor with the propensity to rapidly develop drug resistance, lncRNAs play different roles in: (i) guiding the phenotype switch and leading to metastasis formation; (ii) predicting the response of melanoma patients to immunotherapy; (iii) triggering adaptive responses to therapy and acquisition of drug resistance phenotypes. In this review we summarize the most recent findings on the lncRNAs involved in melanoma growth and spreading to distant sites, focusing on their role as biomarkers for disease diagnosis and patient prognosis, or targets for novel therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: drug resistance; drug targeting; lncRNAs; melanoma; metastasis; phenotype switch.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of lncRNAs associated with major hallmarks of melanomagenesis. Melanoma tumor suppressor lncRNAs are highlighted in red.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Major functional classes of nuclear and cytoplasmic lncRNAs involved in melanoma progression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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