Epigenetic Regulation by LncRNAs: An Overview Focused on UCA1 in Colorectal Cancer

Overview

Journal Cancers (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Oncology

Date 2018 Nov 17

PMID 30441811

Citations 29

Authors

Bernadette Neve

Nicolas Jonckheere

Audrey Vincent

Isabelle Van Seuningen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Colorectal cancers have become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. In particular, acquired chemoresistance and metastatic lesions occurring in colorectal cancer are a major challenge for chemotherapy treatment. Accumulating evidence shows that long non-coding (lncRNAs) are involved in the initiation, progression, and metastasis of cancer. We here discuss the epigenetic mechanisms through which lncRNAs regulate gene expression in cancer cells. In the second part of this review, we focus on the role of lncRNA Urothelial Cancer Associated 1 (UCA1) to integrate research in different types of cancer in order to decipher its putative function and mechanism of regulation in colorectal cancer cells. UCA1 is highly expressed in cancer cells and mediates transcriptional regulation on an epigenetic level through the interaction with chromatin modifiers, by direct regulation via chromatin looping and/or by sponging the action of a diversity of miRNAs. Furthermore, we discuss the role of UCA1 in the regulation of cell cycle progression and its relation to chemoresistance in colorectal cancer cells.

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