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Engineering Artificial Factors to Specifically Manipulate Alternative Splicing in Human Cells
Published on: April 26, 2017
Alternative Splicing at the Crossroad of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Colitis-Associated Colon Cancer
Paulo Matos1,2, Peter Jordan1,2
1Department of Human Genetics, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, 1649-016 Lisbon, Portugal.
Abstract:
The risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) is increased in ulcerative colitis patients compared to the general population. This increased risk results from the state of chronic inflammation, a well-known tumour-promoting condition. This review explores the pathologic and molecular characteristics of colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC), emphasizing the distinct features from sporadic CRC. We focus on the key signalling pathways involved in the transition to CAC, highlighting the emerging role of alternative splicing in these processes, namely on how inflammation-induced alternative splicing can significantly contribute to the increased CRC risk observed among UC patients. This review calls for more transcriptomic studies to elucidate the molecular mechanisms through which inflammation-induced alternative splicing drives CAC pathogenesis. A better understanding of these splicing events is crucial as they may reveal novel biomarkers for disease progression and have the potential to target changes in alternative splicing as a therapeutic strategy.
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