MicroRNA profiling of human cancer samples identifies ultraconserved regions encoding ncRNAs are altered in human leukemias and carcinomas.

ABSTRACT: A critical question in molecular oncology is how extensive is the involvement of non-codingRNAs (ncRNAs) in human tumorigenesis. Herein, we report that a large fraction of genomic ultraconserved regions (UCRs) are encoding a particular set of ncRNAs and are altered in human cancers. We show that UCRs are frequently located at fragile sites and genomic regions involved in cancers, and that genome-wide UCRs profiling reveals distinct signatures in human leukemias and carcinomas. We proved that the inhibition of an overexpressed UCR induces apoptosis in colon cancer cells, and we identified UCRs whose expression may be regulated by miRNAs abnormally expressed in human chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Our findings argue that non-coding genes are involved in tumorigenesis at a greater extent as thought before and offer the perspective of identification of signatures associated with diagnosis, prognosis and response to treatment composed by various categories of ncRNA genes.

INSTRUMENT(S): Axon GenePix 4000B scanner

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Manuela Ferracin 

PROVIDER: E-TABM-184 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress