Crosstalk of long non-coding RNAs and EMT: Searching the missing pieces of an incomplete puzzle for lung cancer therapy
Background: Lung cancer is considered to be the first place among the cancer-related deaths worldwide and demands novel strategies in the treatment of this life-threatening disorder. The aim of this review is to explore regulation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in lung cancer. Introduction: LncRNAs can be considered as potential factors for targeting in cancer therapy, since they regulate a bunch of biological processes, e.g. cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The abnormal expression of lncRNAs occurs in different cancer cells. On the other hand, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical mechanism participating in migration and metastasis of cancer cells. Method: Different databases including Googlescholar, Pubmed and Sciencedirect were used for collecting articles using keywords such as “LncRNA”, “EMT”, and “Lung cancer”. Result: There are tumor-suppressing lncRNAs that can suppress EMT and metastasis of lung cancer cells. Expression of such lncRNAs undergoes down-regulation in lung cancer progression and restoring their expression is of importance in suppressing lung cancer migration. There are tumor-promoting lncRNAs triggering EMT in lung cancer and enhancing their migration. Conclusion: LncRNAs are potential regulators of EMT in lung cancer, and targeting them, both pharmacologically and genetically, can be of importance in controlling migration of lung cancer cells.