Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are RNA transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides. Like other non-coding RNAs, lncRNAs do not encode proteins. LncRNAs regulate gene regulation at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Over the last decades, genome-wide studies, but also candidate approaches, have underlined the key role played by numerous ncRNAs in various cancer types.
Many lncRNAs have peculiar and causative role in the control of cell proliferation/growth, the tumor microenvironment, the immune response, migration/invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Importantly, some of these lncRNAs have been identified to be only changed in the diseased organs and, in addition, to circulate into the bloodstream. These findings have led to the current paradigm that lncRNAs from organs and blood can be used as biomarkers, alone or in complement with other, for easy and early cancer diagnosis and prognosis. These ncRNAs could also be therapeutic targets. Therapeutic strategies to modulate their expression by small molecules acting as inhibitors or antagonists are growing.
This Article Collection aims to collect primary research, data notes and reviews reporting the progress made in the role of lncRNAs in various cancers as blood and organ biomarkers, and as therapeutic targets, at pre-clinical and clinical levels.
Potential topics include (but are not limited to):
- Functional validation of lncRNAs in cancer initiation, progression and metastasis using cell culture and animal models of cancer
- Molecular mechanisms (genetic, epigenetic, biochemical) responsible for the dysregulation of lncRNAs in cancers
- Translational investigation of lncRNAs as organ and blood biomarkers using clinical samples
- Pharmacological approaches for targeting lncRNAs using in vitro and in vivo models
All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo desk assessment and peer-review as part of our standard editorial process. Guest Advisors will not be involved in peer-reviewing manuscripts unless they are an existing member of the Editorial Board.
Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.
The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 31 July 2023.
Please contact Millie Powell at [email protected] with any queries regarding this Article Collection.
