RNA-Binding Proteins in Female Reproductive Pathologies

Abstract

RNA-binding proteins are key regulatory molecules involved primarily in post-transcriptional gene regulation of RNAs. Post-transcriptional gene regulation is critical for adequate cellular growth and survival. Recent reports have shown key interactions between these RNA-binding proteins and other regulatory elements, such as miRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, either enhancing or diminishing their response to RNA stabilization. Many RNA-binding proteins have been reported to play a functional role in mediation of cytokines involved in inflammation and immune dysfunction, and some have been classified as global post-transcriptional regulators of inflammation. The ubiquitous expression of RNA-binding proteins in a wide variety of cell types and their unique mechanisms of degradative action provide evidence that they are involved in reproductive tract pathologies. Aberrant inflammation and immune dysfunction are major contributors to the pathogenesis and disease pathophysiology of many reproductive pathologies, including ovarian and endometrial cancers in the female reproductive tract. Herein, we discuss various RNA-binding proteins and their unique contributions to female reproductive pathologies with a focus on those mediated by aberrant inflammation and immune dysfunction.

Prognostic Values From Integrated Analysis of the Nomogram Based on RNA-Binding Proteins and Clinical Factors in Endometrial Cancer

“…[16][17][18] A few RBPs have also been found to play critical roles in gynecological 2 Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology cancers. 19 For example, Musashi-1 inhibits the malignant characteristics of ovarian cancer and reverses paclitaxel resistance 20 ; ESRP1 is upregulated in ovarian cancer and promotes the transformation of ovarian cancer cells from an interstitial phenotype to an epithelial phenotype 21 ; and the stemness of EC cells is inhibited by the RBP RNPC1 by stabilizing MST1/2 mRNA. 22 However, the role of the most RBPs in EC remains unclear.…”

RNA Binding Motif 5 (RBM5) in the CNS—Moving Beyond Cancer to Harness RNA Splicing to Mitigate the Consequences of Brain Injury

“…A recent surge of disease-focused reviews have highlighted the emerging clinical interest for therapeutically targeting RBPs in the setting of: neurodegenerative diseases (Hofmann et al, 2019 ; Nussbacher et al, 2019 ), pain disorders (de la Pena and Campbell, 2018 ), cancer (Pereira et al, 2017 ), immunity (Turner and Díaz-Muñoz, 2018 ), diabetes (Nutter and Kuyumcu-Martinez, 2018 ), muscle wasting (Van Pelt et al, 2019 ), reproductive pathologies (Khalaj et al, 2017 ), cardiovascular disease (de Bruin et al, 2017 ), renal injury (Ignarski et al, 2019 ) and hepatic illness (Lee et al, 2020 ). Increased awareness of RBPs as targets has accelerated efforts to develop therapies that disrupt and/or modulate their activity.…”

Distinct Roles of NANOS1 and NANOS3 in the Cell Cycle and NANOS3-PUM1-FOXM1 Axis to Control G2/M Phase in a Human Primordial Germ Cell Model

“…PTGR plays an essential role in germ cell development [ 1 ]. Thus, post-transcriptional regulators such as RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are directly linked to disorders, including infertility and germ cell cancers [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Nanos is an evolutionary conserved RBP, identified as Drosophila morphogen crucial for abdomen patterning [ 5 ] and multiple aspects of germline biology, such as germ cells specification [ 6 ], their migration to primary gonads [ 7 , 8 ], regulation of germ cell apoptosis [ 9 ], and maintenance of germline stem cells [ 10 ].…”