Deeper analysis of molecular mechanisms arising in tumor cells is an unmet need to provide new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat tumors. The transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling has been steadily featured in tumor biology and linked to poor prognosis of cancer patients. One pro-tumorigenic mechanism induced by TGF-β is the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which can initiate cancer dissemination, enrich the tumor stem cell population, and increase chemoresistance. TGF-β signals via SMAD proteins, ubiquitin ligases, and protein kinases and modulates the expression of protein-coding and non-coding RNA genes, including those encoding larger than 500 nt transcripts, defined as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Several reports have shown lncRNAs regulating malignant phenotypes by directly affecting epigenetic processes, transcription, and post-transcriptional regulation. Thus, this review aims to update and summarize the impact of TGF-β signaling on the expression of lncRNAs and the function of such lncRNAs as regulators of TGF-β signaling, and how these networks might impact specific hallmarks of cancer.
Keyphrases
- transforming growth factor
- poor prognosis
- long non coding rna
- epithelial mesenchymal transition
- papillary thyroid
- stem cells
- squamous cell
- genome wide identification
- network analysis
- transcription factor
- genome wide analysis
- dna methylation
- signaling pathway
- gene expression
- emergency department
- childhood cancer
- squamous cell carcinoma
- young adults
- bone marrow
- amino acid
- adverse drug