Regulatory role of long non-coding RNA UCA1 in signaling pathways and its clinical applications

Zhaoping Liu; Yanyan Wang; Shunling Yuan; Feng Wen; Jing Liu; Liheng Zou; Ji Zhang

doi:10.3892/ol.2021.12665

Regulatory role of long non-coding RNA UCA1 in signaling pathways and its clinical applications

Oncol Lett. 2021 May;21(5):404. doi: 10.3892/ol.2021.12665. Epub 2021 Mar 19.

Authors

Zhaoping Liu¹, Yanyan Wang¹, Shunling Yuan¹, Feng Wen², Jing Liu³, Liheng Zou¹, Ji Zhang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Rheumatology, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan 421001, P.R. China.
² Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan 421001, P.R. China.
³ Molecular Biology Research Center and Center for Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410078, P.R. China.
⁴ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518033, P.R. China.

Abstract

Long non-coding RNA metastasis-associated urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1) plays a pivotal role in various human diseases. Its gene expression is regulated by several factors, including transcription factors, chromatin remodeling and epigenetic modification. UCA1 is involved in the regulation of the PI3K/AKT, Wnt/β-catenin, MAPK, NF-κB and JAK/STAT signaling pathways, affecting a series of cellular biological functions, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion and tumor drug resistance. Furthermore, UCA1 is used as a novel potential biomarker for disease diagnosis and prognosis, as well as a target for clinical gene therapy. The present review systematically summarizes and elucidates the mechanisms of upstream transcriptional regulation of UCA1, the regulatory role of UCA1 in multiple signaling pathways in the occurrence and development of several diseases, and its potential applications in clinical treatment.

Keywords: UCA1; diagnosis; lncRNA; prognosis; signaling pathway.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The present review was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 81870105 and 81770107), the Scientific Research Fund Project of Hunan Provincial Health Commission (grant no. 20201921), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2018YFA0107800) and the Scientific Research and Innovation Project of postgraduates in Hunan Province (grant no. CX20200970).