In Vivo Administration of Therapeutic Antisense Oligonucleotides

lncRNA HIF1A-AS2 acts as an oncogene to regulate malignant phenotypes in cervical cancer

Background

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) HIF1A-AS2 is upregulated in multiple human cancers and are associated with various aspects of tumor progression. However, the molecular mechanisms of HIF1A-AS2 in cervical cancer (CC) remain largely unknown. In this study, we aim to investigate the expression pattern and signaling pathways of HIF1A-AS2 in CC.

Methods

The study included a group of 20 CC patients, from whom tumor tissue specimens were collected. Additionally, three distinct CC cell lines (HeLa, SiHa, CaSki) were utilized. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to assess the transcript levels of HIF1A-AS2 in these samples. Functional studies were performed by CCK-8, Transwell and Apoptosis assays. Databases including JASPAR, miRDB and Targetscan were used for the transcription factor or target miRNA prediction, subsequent dual luciferase activity assay, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and Ago2 immunoprecipitation (RIP) were also adopted for validation.

Results

The study demonstrated that HIF1A-AS2 expression was elevated in clinical cervical cancer specimens and cultured cell lines in comparison to normal controls. Knockdown of HIF1A-AS2 notably inhibited the proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer cells, while inducing apoptosis. In contrast, HIF1A-AS2 overexpression promoted cellular proliferation and invasion and suppressed apoptosis. It was also identified that c-Jun functions as a transcription factor, activating HIF1A-AS2 expression. Additionally, HIF1A-AS2 was found to serve as a molecular sponge for miR-34b-5p, negatively regulating its expression. Furthermore, HIF1A-AS2 controlled the expression of radixin (RDX) by sponging the miR-34b-5p pathway.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that c-Jun-activated HIF1A-AS2 acts as an oncogenic factor in CC by sponging miR-34b-5p to target radixin. These findings suggest that HIF1A-AS2 might be a viable and promising therapeutic target for cervical cancer treatment.

Therapeutic Potential of lncRNAs in Regulating Disulfidptosis for Cancer Treatment

Non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in various cellular processes, including a novel form of regulated cell death known as disulfidptosis, characterized by accumulating protein disulfide bonds and severe endoplasmic reticulum stress. This review highlights the therapeutic potential of lncRNAs in regulating disulfidptosis for cancer treatment, emphasizing their influence on key pathway components such as GPX4, SLC7A11, and PDIA family members. Recent studies have demonstrated that targeting specific lncRNAs can sensitize cancer cells to disulfidptosis, offering a promising approach to cancer therapy. The regulation of disulfidptosis by lncRNAs involves various signaling pathways, including oxidative stress, ER stress, and calcium signaling. This review also discusses the molecular mechanisms underlying lncRNA regulation of disulfidptosis, the challenges of developing lncRNA-based therapies, and the future potential of this rapidly advancing field in cancer research.

Innovative therapeutic strategies to overcome radioresistance in breast cancer

Despite a comparatively favorable prognosis relative to other malignancies, breast cancer continues to significantly impact women's health globally, partly due to its high incidence rate. A critical factor in treatment failure is radiation resistance - the capacity of tumor cells to withstand high doses of ionizing radiation. Advancements in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying radioresistance, coupled with enhanced characterization of radioresistant cell clones, are paving the way for the development of novel treatment modalities that hold potential for future clinical application. In the context of combating radioresistance in breast cancer, potential targets of interest include long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), micro RNAs (miRNAs), and their associated signaling pathways, along with other signal transduction routes amenable to pharmacological intervention. Furthermore, technical, and methodological innovations, such as the integration of hyperthermia or nanoparticles with radiotherapy, have the potential to enhance treatment responses in patients with radioresistant breast cancer. This review endeavors to provide a comprehensive survey of the current scientific landscape, focusing on novel therapeutic advancements specifically addressing radioresistant breast cancer.

The multiple molecular dimensions of long noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression and tumorigenesis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

LncRNAs are emerging as key regulators of gene expression and they ensure homeostasis during cell differentiation and development, replication, and adaptation to the environment. Because of their key central role in regulating the biology of living cells, it is crucial to characterize how lncRNAs function at the genetic, transcriptomic, and mechanistic level.

RECENT FINDINGS

The low endogenous abundance and high molecular complexity of lncRNAs pose unique challenges for their characterization but new methodological advances in biochemistry, biophysics and cell biology have recently made it possible to characterize an increasing number of these transcripts, including oncogenic and tumor suppressor lncRNAs. These recent studies specifically address important issues that had remained controversial, such as the selectivity of lncRNA mechanisms of action, the functional importance of lncRNA sequences, secondary and tertiary structures, and the specificity of lncRNA interactions with proteins.

SUMMARY

These recent achievements, coupled to population-wide medical and genomic approaches that connect lncRNAs with human diseases and to recent advances in RNA-targeted drug development, open unprecedented new perspectives for exploiting lncRNAs as pharmacological targets or biomarkers to monitor and cure cancer, in addition to metabolic, developmental and cardiovascular diseases.

Nanoparticles-Based Oligonucleotides Delivery in Cancer: Role of Zebrafish as Animal Model

Oligonucleotide (ON) therapeutics are molecular target agents composed of chemically synthesized DNA or RNA molecules capable of inhibiting gene expression or protein function. How ON therapeutics can efficiently reach the inside of target cells remains a problem still to be solved in the majority of potential clinical applications. The chemical structure of ON compounds could affect their capability to pass through the plasma membrane. Other key factors are nuclease degradation in the extracellular space, renal clearance, reticulo-endothelial system, and at the target cell level, the endolysosomal system and the possible export via exocytosis. Several delivery platforms have been proposed to overcome these limits including the use of lipidic, polymeric, and inorganic nanoparticles, or hybrids between them. The possibility of evaluating the efficacy of the proposed therapeutic strategies in useful in vivo models is still a pivotal need, and the employment of zebrafish (ZF) models could expand the range of possibilities. In this review, we briefly describe the main ON therapeutics proposed for anticancer treatment, and the different strategies employed for their delivery to cancer cells. The principal features of ZF models and the pros and cons of their employment in the development of ON-based therapeutic strategies are also discussed.