LncRNAs and their role in cancer stem cells

Shusen Chen; Jiamin Zhu; Feng Wang; Zhifeng Guan; Yangyang Ge; Xi Yang; Jing Cai

doi:10.18632/oncotarget.22161

LncRNAs and their role in cancer stem cells

Oncotarget. 2017 Oct 30;8(66):110685-110692. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.22161. eCollection 2017 Dec 15.

Authors

Shusen Chen^#¹, Jiamin Zhu^#¹, Feng Wang^#¹, Zhifeng Guan¹, Yangyang Ge¹, Xi Yang², Jing Cai¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226321, China.
² Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a vital role in the formation of tumors and have been studied as a target of anticancer therapy. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important in the genesis and progression of cancer. Various lncRNAs, such as ROR, HOTAIR, H19, UCA1, and ARSR, are involved in cancer stemness. These lncRNAs could regulate the expression of CSC-related transcriptional factors, such as SOX2, OCT4, and NANOG, in colorectal, prostate, bladder, breast, liver, and other cancer types. In this work, we review the progress of lncRNAs and cancer stem cells and discuss the potential signal pathways of lncRNAs in cancer stemness.

Keywords: cancer biology; cancer stem cells; lncRNA.

Publication types

Review