Long Non-Coding RNAs in Multifactorial Diseases: Another Layer of Complexity

Abstract

Multifactorial diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular conditions and neurological, immunological and metabolic disorders are a group of diseases caused by the combination of genetic and environmental factors. High-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technologies have revealed that less than 2% of the genome corresponds to protein-coding genes, although most of the human genome is transcribed. The other transcripts include a large variety of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), and the continuous generation of RNA-seq data shows that ncRNAs are strongly deregulated and may be important players in pathological processes. A specific class of ncRNAs, the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), has been intensively studied in human diseases. For clinical purposes, lncRNAs may have advantages mainly because of their specificity and differential expression patterns, as well as their ideal qualities for diagnosis and therapeutics. Multifactorial diseases are the major cause of death worldwide and many aspects of their development are not fully understood. Recent data about lncRNAs has improved our knowledge and helped risk assessment and prognosis of these pathologies. This review summarizes the involvement of some lncRNAs in the most common multifactorial diseases, with a focus on those with published functional data.

Long non‑coding RNA GAS5 regulates myocardial ischemia‑reperfusion injury through the PI3K/AKT apoptosis pathway by sponging miR‑532‑5p

“…lncRNAs were previously thought to be transcriptional noise with no biological function. With continuous development in the life sciences, epigenetics and genomics, an increasing number of lncRNAs have been discovered and named, and their potential functions in the regulation of a variety of biological processes have been discovered simultaneously (47). Although lncRNAs themselves do not have protein-coding functions, they may indirectly exert biological effects by binding to miRNAs, protein-coding RNA or proteins, and the mechanism of action is very complicated (48).…”

Long non-coding RNAs in hematological malignancies: translating basic techniques into diagnostic and therapeutic strategies

“…LncRNAs are emerging as crucial players in different pathological conditions and there have been many studies showing their dysregulation associated with human diseases [ 157 – 159 ]. Such association provided important clinical implications and helped to explore new diagnostic and therapeutic options.…”

Non-Coding RNAs as Regulators and Markers for Targeting of Breast Cancer and Cancer Stem Cells

“…Functional characterization of several of them is still a challenge except in the case of some classically defined important lncRNAs which are well explored, such as X inactive specific transcript (XIST; in X chromosome inactivation), oncogenic lncRNA HOX Transcript Antisense Intergenic RNA (HOTAIR); in positional identity and telomerase RNA component (TERC; in telomere elongation), ANRIL a lncRNA in molecular scaffold of chromatin-modifying complexes, decoy RNAs such as GAS5 (growth arrest specific 5) and TERRA (telomeric repeat-containing RNA) [36,37]. A plethora of regulatory functions were unveiled in several lncRNAs which affects their cellular functions associated with development and pathophysiology of diseases including several types of cancer, neurological and cardiovascular conditions, and immunological and metabolic disorders [38][39][40].…”