TY - JOUR
T1 - Long noncoding RNAs in normal and pathological pluripotency
AU - Häfner, Sophia J
AU - Talvard, Thomas G
AU - Lund, Anders H
N1 - Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/5
Y1 - 2017/5
N2 - The striking similarities between pluripotent and cancer cells, such as immortality and increased stress resistance, have long been acknowledged. Numerous studies searched for and successfully identified common molecular players and pathways, thus providing an entirely new challenge and potential therapeutic angle by targeting cancer cells or a specific stem population of the tumor via pluripotency associated processes. However, these strategies have until now mainly been restricted to proteins. Nonetheless, it has become clear over the past decade that the overwhelming majority of the genome produces noncoding transcripts, many of which have proven both functional and crucial for key cellular processes, including stemness maintenance. Moreover, numerous long noncoding RNAs are deregulated in cancer, but little is known concerning their functions and molecular mechanisms. Consequently, it seems essential to integrate the noncoding transcripts into the picture of the stemness-cancer connection. Whereas a number of studies have addressed the expression of lncRNAs in cancer stem cells, no systematic approach has yet been undertaken to identify lncRNAs implicated in the maintenance of the embryonic stemness state that is hijacked by cancer cells. The aim of this review is to highlight long noncoding RNAs with shared functions in stemness and cancer and to outline the current state of a field in its infancy, the search for long noncoding transcripts in cancer stem cells.
AB - The striking similarities between pluripotent and cancer cells, such as immortality and increased stress resistance, have long been acknowledged. Numerous studies searched for and successfully identified common molecular players and pathways, thus providing an entirely new challenge and potential therapeutic angle by targeting cancer cells or a specific stem population of the tumor via pluripotency associated processes. However, these strategies have until now mainly been restricted to proteins. Nonetheless, it has become clear over the past decade that the overwhelming majority of the genome produces noncoding transcripts, many of which have proven both functional and crucial for key cellular processes, including stemness maintenance. Moreover, numerous long noncoding RNAs are deregulated in cancer, but little is known concerning their functions and molecular mechanisms. Consequently, it seems essential to integrate the noncoding transcripts into the picture of the stemness-cancer connection. Whereas a number of studies have addressed the expression of lncRNAs in cancer stem cells, no systematic approach has yet been undertaken to identify lncRNAs implicated in the maintenance of the embryonic stemness state that is hijacked by cancer cells. The aim of this review is to highlight long noncoding RNAs with shared functions in stemness and cancer and to outline the current state of a field in its infancy, the search for long noncoding transcripts in cancer stem cells.
U2 - 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.07.011
DO - 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.07.011
M3 - Review
C2 - 27438587
SN - 1084-9521
VL - 65
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
JF - Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
ER -
