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Comment
. 2022 Aug 15;132(16):e161981.
doi: 10.1172/JCI161981.

Breaking satellite silence: human satellite II RNA expression in ovarian cancer

Shridar Ganesan
Comment

Breaking satellite silence: human satellite II RNA expression in ovarian cancer

Shridar Ganesan. J Clin Invest. .

Abstract

Multiple cancer types demonstrate abnormal expression of repetitive RNA sequences as a form of epigenetic instability. There is growing interest in understanding the role of repetitive RNAs in cancer pathogenesis and immunogenicity and in their potential role as diagnostic or therapeutic biomarkers. In this issue of the JCI, Porter and colleagues report on satellite RNA in a subset of ovarian cancers. The authors found that high expression of human satellite (HSAT) repeats - but not other families of repeats - was associated with an immunosuppressive phenotype in ovarian cancer cell lines and tumor samples. Further induction of HSAT RNA levels in vitro, surprisingly, leads to innate immune activation, suggesting a potential therapeutic strategy. This work highlights the expanding role of repetitive RNAs in tumor biology and the need to better define specific classes of repetitive elements expressed in cancer - as well as their role in tumorigenesis, tumor immunity, and the host response to cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: SG has consulted for Merck, Roche, Foghorn Therapeutics, Silagene, KayoThera, and has received research funding from M2GEN and Gandeeva, and has a patent on the role of expression of Endogenous retroviruses as a biomarker to guide immunotherapy in cancer (Measurement of endogenous retrovirus expression to guide immunotherapy in cancer; patent number 20200283858). His spouse is an employee of Merck and has equity in Merck.

Comment on

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