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Engineering Artificial Factors to Specifically Manipulate Alternative Splicing in Human Cells
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Published on: April 26, 2017

The emerging role of splicing factors in cancer

Ana Rita Grosso1, Sandra Martins, Maria Carmo-Fonseca

  • 1Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Professor Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal.

EMBO Reports
|October 11, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Alternative splicing, a key process in gene expression, is increasingly linked to cancer. Altered splicing factor expression, not gene mutations, drives many cancer-associated splicing events, suggesting new therapeutic targets.

Area of Science:

  • Genomics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • The human transcriptome is complex, with alternative splicing generating diverse transcript variants.
  • Disruptions in splicing regulatory networks are increasingly recognized as contributors to diseases like cancer.
  • Many cancer-associated alternative splicing events occur without mutations in the affected genes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the emerging role of alternative splicing in cancer.
  • To highlight the connection between altered splicing factor expression and cancer development, progression, and therapy response.
  • To discuss the potential of targeting the splicing machinery for anticancer treatments.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of global sequence and microarray data.
  • Review of current literature on alternative splicing and cancer.
  • Correlation studies on splicing factor expression in cancer.

Main Results:

  • Alternative splicing significantly increases transcriptome complexity.
  • Changes in splicing factor expression are linked to cancer development and progression.
  • Cancer-associated splicing alterations are often independent of gene mutations.

Conclusions:

  • The splicing machinery is a critical factor in cancer biology.
  • Altered expression of splicing regulatory proteins is a hallmark of cancer.
  • Targeting splicing regulation presents a promising avenue for novel anticancer therapies.

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