Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 4, 2025

Dual CRISPR-Interference Strategy for Targeting Synthetic Lethal Interactions Between Non-Coding RNAs in Cancer Cells
07:23

Dual CRISPR-Interference Strategy for Targeting Synthetic Lethal Interactions Between Non-Coding RNAs in Cancer Cells

Published on: May 30, 2025

504

The landscape of cryptic antisense transcription in human cancers reveals an oncogenic noncoding RNA in lung cancer

Zhaozhao Zhao1,2, Yu Chen1, Xiaomeng Cheng1

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Human Phenome Institute, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Industrial Microorganisms, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.

Science Advances
|April 5, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Researchers discovered hundreds of cryptic antisense polyadenylated transcripts (CAPTs) in tumors, linked to cancer progression. These findings offer new avenues for cancer diagnosis and treatment strategies.

Area of Science:

  • Genomics
  • Cancer Biology
  • Epigenetics

Background:

  • Cryptic transcription initiation is linked to oncogenic transcript activation.
  • The role of cryptic antisense transcription in cancer remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence and impact of cryptic antisense transcription in cancer.
  • To identify and characterize novel cryptic antisense polyadenylated transcripts (CAPTs).

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a computational pipeline on public transcriptome and epigenome datasets.
  • Analyzed chromatin accessibility and histone marks.
  • Employed CRISPR-mediated epigenetic editing assays.

Main Results:

  • Identified hundreds of unannotated CAPTs enriched in tumor samples.
  • Found that cryptic antisense transcription correlates with increased chromatin accessibility and active histone marks.
  • Demonstrated that LUSC cell proliferation is promoted by the noncoding RNA LRRK1-CAPT.

Conclusions:

  • Cryptic antisense transcription is a prevalent and impactful event in cancer.
  • CAPTs represent potential novel targets for cancer diagnosis and therapy.
  • Epigenetic modifications play a role in the regulation of cryptic antisense transcription.

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