Open AccessLong non‑coding RNAs and microRNAs as regulators of stress in cancer (Review)
Author(s) -
Katerina Pierouli,
Eleni Papakonstantinou,
Louis Papageorgiou,
Io Diakou,
Τhanasis Mitsis,
Konstantina Dragoumani,
Demetrios A. Spandidos,
Flora Bacopoulou,
George P. Chrousos,
George N. Goulielmos,
Elias Eliopoulos,
Dimitriοs Vlachakis
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
molecular medicine reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.727
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1791-3004
pISSN - 1791-2997
DOI - 10.3892/mmr.2022.12878
Subject(s) - biology , microrna , epigenetics , cancer cell , cellular stress response , cancer , gene , transcription factor , cell cycle , regulation of gene expression , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , computational biology , fight or flight response
Resistance to stress is a feature of cancer cells. Cellular stress includes oxidative, metabolic and genotoxic stress conditions, which under normal conditions lead to cell death. However, in contrast to normal cells, cancer cells overcome the checkpoints that normally restrict growth, and are able to resist cellular stress and subsequent cell death through a variety of mechanisms, which include several non‑coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Within this context, long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are the main categories of ncRNAs that have been shown in the literature to function as regulators of stress resistance pathways in cancer. miRNAs play a key role in the majority of biological pathways, as they regulate the expression of hundreds of target genes, including genes involved in stress response and cell death, oncogenes, or tumor suppressor genes, by inhibiting protein translation or promoting the degradation of mRNAs. Respectively, lncRNAs are epigenetic regulators, which are also involved in cancer progression, stress response and metabolic pathways by promoting or inhibiting the transcription, splicing, translation and modulation of protein function. Thus, the present review summarizes recent knowledge related to the role of these molecules in the cancer response to stress, highlighting the ability of these non‑coding molecules to be effective drug targets and biomarkers in cancer treatment.