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Noncoding RNA response to xenobiotic exposure: an indicator of toxicity and carcinogenicity

April K Marrone1, Frederick A Beland, Igor P Pogribny

  • 1Commissioner Fellow, Research Chemist,National Center for Toxicological Research, Division of Biochemical Toxicology , Jefferson, AR , USA.

Expert Opinion on Drug Metabolism & Toxicology
|August 30, 2014
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Environmental chemical exposure increases cancer risk. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are altered by toxicants, offering potential for early cancer detection and toxicity assessment.

Area of Science:

  • Toxicogenomics
  • Molecular Toxicology
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • Chemicals, including environmental and occupational exposures, are significant risk factors for noncommunicable diseases, particularly cancer.
  • Sustained cellular stress from carcinogen/toxicant exposure, marked by nongenotoxic events, contributes to tumorigenesis and is regulated by noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs).
  • Altered ncRNA expression due to genotoxic and nongenotoxic events provides a mechanistic link between chemical exposure and cancer development, with toxicogenomics offering insights into gene-chemical interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the impact of xenobiotics (foreign chemical substances) on ncRNAs.
  • To highlight the critical role of ncRNAs in cellular responses to carcinogen and toxicant exposure.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review summarizing recent findings on xenobiotics and ncRNAs.
  • Analysis of evidence demonstrating the involvement of ncRNAs in toxicant-induced cellular events.

Main Results:

  • Xenobiotics significantly impact the expression and function of ncRNAs.
  • ncRNAs play a crucial role in mediating cellular responses to chemical carcinogens and toxicants.
  • Toxicogenomic approaches reveal complex gene-chemical interactions at the transcriptome level.

Conclusions:

  • ncRNAs exhibit tissue specificity, appear early, have low variability, and are stable in biological fluids.
  • Incorporating ncRNAs into cancer risk assessment can significantly improve the efficiency of toxicity and carcinogenicity testing.
  • ncRNAs hold promise as biomarkers for early disease detection and for evaluating the risks of new chemicals and drugs.
Keywords:
long noncoding RNAsmicroRNAsnoncoding RNAsxenobiotics

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