Upregulation of lncRNA CALML3-AS1 promotes cell proliferation and metastasis in cervical cancer via activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Defining new biomarkers for overcoming therapeutical resistance in cervical cancer using lncRNA

Despite improvements in cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment, the prognosis for cervical cancer patients remains dismal due to the development of drug resistance, metastasis, and invasion resulting leading to treatment failure. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of RNA transcripts have been reported in mediating carcinogenesis as well as drug, and radio-resistance in tumor cells. These lncRNAs regulate various cancer hallmarks and contribute to the development of therapeutic resistance. They regulates multiple signalling pathways, recruits polycomb group, function as miRNA sponge and scaffolds. Additionally, lncRNAs can act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in cervical cancer. This comprehensive review outlines the biogenesis of lncRNA and its role in cancer development. It delves into the mechanisms through which various lncRNAs mediate chemoresistance and radioresistance in cervical cancer. By shedding into the light of mechanism, this review will also aids researchers in understanding lncRNAs as biomarkers and latest advancements in clinically targeting them with the help of Artificial Intelligence for overcoming chemoresistance and radioresistance, thereby improving cervical cancer treatment.

Integrative Analyses of Circulating mRNA and lncRNA Expression Profile in Plasma of Lung Cancer Patients

Circulating-free RNAs (cfRNAs) have been regarded as potential biomarkers for “liquid biopsy” in cancers. However, the circulating messenger RNA (mRNA) and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) profiles of lung cancer have not been fully characterized. In this study, we profiled circulating mRNA and lncRNA profiles of 16 lung cancer patients and 4 patients with benign pulmonary nodules. Compared with benign pulmonary nodules, 806 mRNAs and 1,762 lncRNAs were differentially expressed in plasma of lung adenocarcinoma patients. For lung squamous cell carcinomas, 256 mRNAs and 946 lncRNAs were differentially expressed. A total of 231 mRNAs and 298 lncRNAs were differentially expressed in small cell lung cancer. Eleven mRNAs, 51 lncRNAs, and 207 canonical pathways were differentially expressed in lung cancer in total. Forty-five blood samples were collected to verify our findings via performing qPCR. There are plenty of meaningful mRNAs and lncRNAs that were found. MYC, a transcription regulator associated with the stemness of cancer cells, is overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma. Transforming growth factor beta (TGFB1), which plays pleiotropic roles in cancer progression, was found to be upregulated in lung squamous carcinoma. MALAT1, a well-known oncogenic lncRNA, was also found to be upregulated in lung squamous carcinoma. Thus, this study provided a systematic resource of mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles in lung cancer plasma.

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LncRNA CALML3-AS1 suppresses papillary thyroid cancer progression via sponging miR-20a-5p/RBM38 axis

Background

The incidence and mortality of thyroid cancer (TC) has been steadily rising in the past decades. It is imperative to have a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying TC development and identify novel therapeutic targets. This study characterized the role of lncRNA CALML3-AS1 (CALML3-AS1) in the development of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).

Method

Related mRNAs expression were validated in the tumor and adjacent normal tissues from 52 PTC patients and PTC cell lines by qRT-PCR. Expression of RBM38 was detected by Western blot. We have also conducted CCK-8 and colony formation assays were used to detect the effect of CALML3-AS1 on cell proliferation, Transwell assay was utilized to evaluate cell migration and invasion, apoptosis detected by flow cytometry assay, RNA pull-down and luciferase assays were performed to validate gene predictions.

Results

The results indicated that the expression of both CALML3A-S1 and RBM38 were significantly downregulated in PTC tissues (p < 0.01), while the expression of miR-20a-5p was increased in PTC (p < 0.01). Functionally, CALML3-AS1 overexpression inhibited PTC cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, CALML 3-AS1 sponged miR-20a-5p, which in turn leads to the suppression of RBM38 expression and PTC progression.

Conclusions

CALML3-AS1 functions as a ceRNA for miR-20a-5p in the regulation of the expression of RBM38 in PTC. Higher level of CALML3-AS1 serves as a good prognostic indicator of survival in PTC patients. Targeting CALML3-AS1/ miR-20a-5p/RBM38 axis may represent a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of PTC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09360-3.

Epigenetic Regulation of the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway in Cancer

Studies over the past four decades have elucidated the role of Wnt/β-catenin mediated regulation in cell proliferation, differentiation and migration. These processes are fundamental to embryonic development, regeneration potential of tissues, as well as cancer initiation and progression. In this review, we focus on the epigenetic players which influence the Wnt/β-catenin pathway via modulation of its components and coordinated regulation of the Wnt target genes. The role played by crosstalk with other signaling pathways mediating tumorigenesis is also elaborated. The Hippo/YAP pathway is particularly emphasized due to its extensive crosstalk via the Wnt destruction complex. Further, we highlight the recent advances in developing potential therapeutic interventions targeting the epigenetic machinery based on the characterization of these regulatory networks for effective treatment of various cancers and also for regenerative therapies.

The Biological Significance of Long noncoding RNAs Dysregulation and their Mechanism of Regulating Signaling Pathways in Cervical Cancer

Despite the remarkable decrease in cervical cancer incidence due to the availability of the HPV vaccine and implementation of screening programs for early detection in developed countries, this cancer remains a major health problem globally, especially in developing countries where most of the cases and mortality occur. Therefore, more understanding of molecular mechanisms of cervical cancer development might lead to the discovery of more effective diagnosis and treatment options. Research on long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) demonstrates the important roles of these molecules in many physiological processes and diseases, especially cancer. In the present review, we discussed the significance of lncRNAs altered expression in cervical cancer, highlighting their roles in regulating highly conserved signaling pathways, such as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), Wnt/β-catenin, Notch, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathways and their association with the progression of cervical cancer in order to bring more insight and understanding of this disease and their potential implications in cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Dysregulation of Transcription Factor Networks Unveils Different Pathways in Human Papillomavirus 16-Positive Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma of the Uterine Cervix

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC) are the most common histological types of cervical cancer (CC). The worse prognosis of ADC cases highlights the need for better molecular characterization regarding differences between these CC types. RNA-Seq analysis of seven SCC and three ADC human papillomavirus 16-positive samples and the comparison with public data from non-tumoral human papillomavirus-negative cervical tissue samples revealed pathways exclusive to each histological type, such as the epithelial maintenance in SCC and the maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) pathway in ADC. The transcriptional regulatory network analysis of cervical SCC samples unveiled a set of six transcription factor (TF) genes with the potential to positively regulate long non-coding RNA genes DSG1-AS1, CALML3-AS1, IGFL2-AS1, and TINCR. Additional analysis revealed a set of MODY TFs regulated in the sequence predicted to be repressed by miR-96-5p or miR-28-3p in ADC. These microRNAs were previously described to target LINC02381, which was predicted to be positively regulated by two MODY TFs upregulated in cervical ADC. Therefore, we hypothesize LINC02381 might act by decreasing the levels of miR-96-5p and miR-28-3p, promoting the MODY activation in cervical ADC. The novel TF networks here described should be explored for the development of more efficient diagnostic tools.

Development of cancer prognostic signature based on pan-cancer proteomics

Utilizing genomic data to predict cancer prognosis was insufficient. Proteomics can improve our understanding of the etiology and progression of cancer and improve the assessment of cancer prognosis. And the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) has generated extensive proteomics data of the vast majority of tumors. Based on CPTAC, we can perform a proteomic pan-carcinoma analysis. We collected the proteomics data and clinical features of cancer patients from CPTAC. Then, we screened 69 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) with R software in five cancers: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), children’s brain tumor tissue consortium (CBTTC), clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRC), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC). GO and KEGG analysis were performed to clarify the function of these proteins. We also identified their interactions. The DEPs-based prognostic model for predicting over survival was identified by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO)-Cox regression model in training cohort. Then, we used the time-dependent receiver operating characteristics analysis to evaluate the ability of the prognostic model to predict overall survival and validated it in validation cohort. The results showed that the DEPs-based prognostic model could accurately and effectively predict the survival rate of most cancers.

Roles of Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway Regulatory Long Non-Coding RNAs in the Pathogenesis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common pathological type of lung cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are promising novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, as well as potential therapeutic targets for lung cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to modulate tumor cells proliferation, cell cycle progression, invasion, and metastasis by regulating gene expression at transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and epigenetic levels. The oncogenic aberrant Wnt/β-catenin signaling is prominent in lung cancer, playing a vital role in tumorigenesis, prognosis, and resistance to therapy. Interestingly, compelling studies have demonstrated that lncRNAs exert either oncogenic or tumor suppressor roles by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling. In this review, we aim to present the current accumulated knowledge regarding the roles of Wnt/β-catenin signaling-regulated lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Better understanding of the effects of lncRNAs on Wnt/β-catenin signaling might contribute to the improved understanding of the molecular tumor pathogenesis and to the uncovering of novel therapeutic targets in NSCLC.