Long stress-induced non-coding transcript 5: A promising therapeutic target for cancer treatment

Long non-coding RNAs are RNA molecules with a transcript length of more than 200 nucleotides and without protein-coding ability. They regulate gene expression by interacting with protein, RNA and DNA. Their function is closely related to their subcellular localization, with regulation of gene expression at the epigenetic and transcriptional levels occurring in the nucleus, and at the post-transcriptional and translational levels in the cytoplasm. Long stress-induced non-coding transcript 5 (LSINCT5), which is localized in the nucleus, is overexpressed in many types of cancers such as breast cancer, gastric cancer, ovarian cancer, thyroid cancer, and gastrointestinal cancer. Substantial evidence indicates that there is an obvious connection between cancers and LSINCT5, as it inhibits apoptosis and promotes proliferation, invasion and migration of cancer cells, as well as participates in the pathogenesis and progression of cancer by interacting with DNA, protein and RNA. These findings suggest that LSINCT5 could be a novel biomarker and an emerging therapeutic target in human cancers. In the present study, the structure and corresponding biological function of LSINCT5 were summarized in order to clarify its molecular mechanisms in the progression of various malignant tumors.