LncRNA <i>MORT (ZNF667-AS1)</i> in Cancer—Is There a Possible Role in Gynecological Malignancies?

Riccardo Di Fiore; Sherif Suleiman; Rosa Drago-Ferrante; Ana Felix; Sharon A. O’Toole; John J. O’Leary; Mark P. Ward; James Beirne; Angel Yordanov; Mariela Vasileva-Slaveva; Yashwanth Subbannayya; Francesca Pentimalli; Antonio Giordano; Jean Calleja-Agius

doi:10.3390/ijms22157829

International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Jul 2021)

LncRNA <i>MORT (ZNF667-AS1)</i> in Cancer—Is There a Possible Role in Gynecological Malignancies?

Riccardo Di Fiore,
Sherif Suleiman,
Rosa Drago-Ferrante,
Ana Felix,
Sharon A. O’Toole,
John J. O’Leary,
Mark P. Ward,
James Beirne,
Angel Yordanov,
Mariela Vasileva-Slaveva,
Yashwanth Subbannayya,
Francesca Pentimalli,
Antonio Giordano,
Jean Calleja-Agius

Affiliations

Riccardo Di Fiore: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta
Sherif Suleiman: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta
Rosa Drago-Ferrante: BioDNA Laboratories, Malta Life Sciences Park, SGN 3000 San Gwann, Malta
Ana Felix: Department of Pathology, Instituto Portugues de Oncologia de Lisboa, NOVA Medical School, University NOVA of Lisbon, Campo dos Mártires da Pátria, 130, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal
Sharon A. O’Toole: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute, Trinity College Dublin, D08 HD53 Dublin, Ireland
John J. O’Leary: Department of Histopathology, Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute, Emer Casey Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin and Coombe Women’s and Infants University Hospital, D08 RX0X Dublin, Ireland
Mark P. Ward: Department of Histopathology, Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute, Emer Casey Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin and Coombe Women’s and Infants University Hospital, D08 RX0X Dublin, Ireland
James Beirne: Department of Gynaecological Oncology, Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute, St James Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, D08 X4RX Dublin, Ireland
Angel Yordanov: Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Medical University Pleven, 5800 Pleven, Bulgaria
Mariela Vasileva-Slaveva: Department of Breast Surgery, Acibadem City Clinic, 1750 Sofia, Bulgaria
Yashwanth Subbannayya: Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR), Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine (IKOM), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
Francesca Pentimalli: Cell Biology and Biotherapy Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione G. Pascale, 80131 Napoli, Italy
Antonio Giordano: Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Center for Biotechnology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
Jean Calleja-Agius: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22157829
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 22, no. 15
p. 7829

Abstract

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Gynecological cancers (GCs) are currently among the major threats to female health. Moreover, there are different histologic subtypes of these cancers, which are defined as ‘rare’ due to an annual incidence of Mortal Obligate RNA Transcript (MORT; alias ZNF667-AS1) has been identified as a tumor-related lncRNA. ZNF667-AS1 gene, located in the human chromosome region 19q13.43, has been shown to be silenced by DNA hypermethylation in several cancers. In this review, we report on the biological functions of ZNF667-AS1 from recent studies and describe the regulatory functions of ZNF667-AS1 in human disease, including cancer. Furthermore, we discuss the emerging insights into the potential role of ZNF667-AS1 as a biomarker and novel therapeutic target in cancer, including GCs (ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancers).

Published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences

ISSN: 1661-6596 (Print); 1422-0067 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General); Science: Chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms

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