Long noncoding RNA polymorphisms in gynecological cancers

Disulfidptosis classification of pancreatic carcinoma reveals correlation with clinical prognosis and immune profile

BACKGROUND

Disulfidptosis, a novel form of metabolism-related regulated cell death, is a promising intervention for cancer therapeutic intervention. Although aberrant expression of long-chain noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) expression has been associated with pancreatic carcinoma (PC) development, the biological properties and prognostic potential of disulfidptosis-related lncRNAs (DRLs) remain unclear.

METHODS

We obtained RNA-seq data, clinical data, and genomic mutations of PC from the TCGA database, and then determined DRLs. We developed a risk score model and analyzed the role of risk score in the predictive ability, immune cell infiltration, immunotherapy response, and drug sensitivity.

RESULTS

We finally established a prognostic model including three DRLs (AP005233.2, FAM83A-AS1, and TRAF3IP2-AS1). According to Kaplan-Meier curve analysis, the survival time of patients in the low-risk group was significantly longer than that in the high-risk group. Based on enrichment analysis, significant associations between metabolic processes and differentially expressed genes were assessed in two risk groups. In addition, we observed significant differences in the tumor immune microenvironment landscape. Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Rejection (TIDE) analysis showed no statistically significant likelihood of immune evasion in both risk groups. Patients exhibiting both high risk and high tumor mutation burden (TMB) had the poorest survival times, while those falling into the low risk and low TMB categories showed the best prognosis. Moreover, the risk group identified by the 3-DRLs profile showed significant drug sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONS

Our proposed 3-DRLs-based feature could serve as a promising tool for predicting the prognosis, immune landscape, and treatment response of PC patients, thus facilitating optimal clinical decision-making.

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.

Pseudogene: Relevant or Irrelevant?

With the advancement of high-throughput technologies, the pivotal role of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) as a master regulator of various biological functions has become increasingly apparent. Historically considered non-functional and labeled as "junk DNA," pseudogenes can be transcribed into RNA, indicating a potential role similar to ncRNAs. Recent research suggests that some pseudogenes can encode functional peptides or proteins. A growing body of evidence has revealed that pseudogenes and their derived functional molecules are involved in various biological processes and can serve as prognostic markers in cancers. This review comprehensively summarizes and discusses the current understanding of the functional roles of pseudogenes and their derived molecules in biological functions.

Personalizing Therapy Outcomes through Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway Inhibition in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer (LC) is a highly invasive malignancy and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as its most prevalent histological subtype. Despite all breakthroughs achieved in drug development, the prognosis of NSCLC remains poor. The mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascade (MAPKC) is a complex network of interacting molecules that can drive oncogenesis, cancer progression, and drug resistance when dysregulated. Over the past decades, MAPKC components have been used to design MAPKC inhibitors (MAPKCIs), which have shown varying efficacy in treating NSCLC. Thus, recent studies support the potential clinical use of MAPKCIs, especially in combination with other therapeutic approaches. This article provides an overview of the MAPKC and its inhibitors in the clinical management of NSCLC. It addresses the gaps in the current literature on different combinations of selective inhibitors while suggesting two particular therapy approaches to be researched in NSCLC: parallel and aggregate targeting of the MAPKC. This work also provides suggestions that could serve as a potential guideline to aid future research in MAPKCIs to optimize clinical outcomes in NSCLC.

Proto-oncogene c-Myb potentiates cisplatin resistance of ovarian cancer cells by downregulating lncRNA NKILA and modulating cancer stemness and LIN28A-let7 axis

Ovarian cancer is a major gynecological cancer that has poor prognosis associated mainly to its late diagnosis. Cisplatin is an FDA approved ovarian cancer therapy and even though the therapy is initially promising, the patients mostly progress to resistance against cisplatin. The underlying mechanisms are complex and not very clearly understood. Using two different paired cell lines representing cisplatin-sensitive and the cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells, the ES2 and the A2780 parental and cisplatin-resistant cells, we show an elevated proto-oncogene c-Myb in resistant cells. We further show down-regulated lncRNA NKILA in resistant cells with its de-repression in resistant cells when c-Myb is silenced. NKILA negatively correlates with cancer cell and invasion but has no effect on cellular proliferation or cell cycle. C-Myb activates NF-κB signaling which is inhibited by NKILA. The cisplatin resistant cells are also marked by upregulated stem cell markers, particularly LIN28A and OCT4, and downregulated LIN28A-targeted let-7 family miRNAs. Whereas LIN28A and downregulated let-7s individually de-repress c-Myb-mediated cisplatin resistance, the ectopic expression of let-7s attenuates LIN28A effects, thus underlying a c-Myb-NKILA-LIN28A-let-7 axis in cisplatin resistance of ovarian cancer cells that needs to be further explored for therapeutic intervention.