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Small non-coding RNAs in human cancer: function, clinical utility, and characterization

Zhao Zhang1, Jian Zhang2, Lixia Diao3

  • 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. zzzczeus@163.com.

Oncogene
|January 16, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) are crucial in gene regulation and cancer development. This review highlights their roles, clinical potential as biomarkers and therapeutics, and high-throughput characterization methods.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) regulate gene expression at multiple levels.
  • sncRNAs are increasingly recognized for their involvement in cancer development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the functional roles of four key sncRNA species in tumorigenesis.
  • To discuss the clinical utility of sncRNAs as cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
  • To summarize high-throughput methods for sncRNA characterization.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of recent research on sncRNAs in cancer.
  • Focus on small nucleolar RNAs, transfer RNA, small nuclear RNAs, and piwi-interacting RNAs.
  • Discussion of library construction and computational frameworks for sncRNA analysis.

Main Results:

  • Detailed overview of the functions of specific sncRNAs in cancer progression.
  • Exploration of sncRNAs as prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers.
  • Identification of sncRNAs as potential therapeutic targets in oncology.

Conclusions:

  • sncRNAs play significant roles in cancer biology.
  • sncRNAs hold promise as clinical biomarkers and therapeutic agents.
  • Advanced characterization techniques are vital for understanding sncRNA functions in cancer.

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