Role of microRNA and Long Non-Coding RNA in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for about 80-90% of all liver cancers and is found to be the third most common cause of cancer mortality in the Asia-Pacific region. Risk factors include hepatitis B and C virus, cirrhosis, aflatoxin-contaminated food, alcohol, and diabetes. Surgically removing the tumor tissue seems effective but a high chance of recurrence has led to an urgent need to develop novel molecules for the treatment of HCC. Clinical management with sorafenib is found to be effective but it is only able to prolong survival for a few months. Various side effects like gastrointestinal and abdominal pain, hypertension, and hemorrhage are also associated with sorafenib, which calls for the unmet need of effective therapies against HCC. Similarly, the genetic mechanisms behind the occurrence of HCC are still unknown and need to be expounded further for developing newer candidates. Since unearthing the concept of these variants, transcriptomics has revealed the role of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in many cellular, physiological and pathobiological processes. They are also found to be widely associated and abundantly expressed in a variety of cancer. Aberrant expression and mutations are closely related to tumorigenesis and metastasis and hence are classified as novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for the treatment of cancer, including HCC. Herein, this review summarises the relationship between ncRNAs and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Upregulated hsa_circ_0005785 Facilitates Cell Growth and Metastasis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Through the miR-578/APRIL Axis

“…Therefore, discovery of new biomarkers is critically needed to ameliorate the clinical diagnosis and prognosis of HCC patients. Up to now, plenty of documents have exposed that most of the non-coding RNAs, for example miRNA and lncRNA, are always dysregulated in HCC and play important roles in hepatocarcinogenesis (3)(4)(5). Yet, as a special category of non-coding RNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs) need to further clarify the expression profile, clinical performance, and molecular mechanisms in HCC.…”

Knockdown of lncRNA LINC01234 Suppresses the Tumorigenesis of Liver Cancer via Sponging miR-513a-5p

“…Intracellular lncRNAs are known to suppress the biological activity of miRNAs and regulate the expression of mRNAs targeted by miRNAs through competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) ( 11 ). Therefore, lncRNAs have been considered to be important targets for treating multiple diseases ( 12 , 13 ). Moreover, lncRNAs play key roles in malignant tumors, including liver cancer ( 14 , 15 ).…”

Signature of prognostic epithelial–mesenchymal transition related long noncoding RNAs (ERLs) in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…[ 21 ] In recent years, many lncRNAs have been confirmed to promote the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of HCC cells through the positive regulation of EMT process. [ 22 ] LncRNA-HULC has been shown to play a role as a competitive endogenous RNA in HCC, promoting the progression and metastasis of HCC by influencing the regulation of miR-200a-3p on Zeb-1 expression. [ 23 ] LncRNA HOYAIR enhances EMT through HOTAIR-mir-23b-3p-Zeb-1 pathway and promotes invasion and migration of hepatoma cells.…”