Abstract
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common malignant tumor worldwide. Metastasis is the main cause of the death of OSCC patients. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), one of the key factors affecting OSCC metastasis, are a subtype of RNA with a length of more than 200 nucleotides that has little or no coding potential. In recent years, the important role played by lncRNAs in biological processes, such as chromatin modification, transcription regulation, RNA stability regulation, and mRNA translation, has been gradually revealed. More and more studies have shown that lncRNAs can regulate the metastasis of various tumors including OSCC at epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional levels. In this review, we mainly discussed the role and possible mechanisms of lncRNAs in OSCC metastasis. Most lncRNAs act as oncogenes and only a few lncRNAs have been shown to inhibit OSCC metastasis. Besides, we briefly introduced the research status of cancer-associated fibroblasts-related lncRNAs in OSCC metastasis. Finally, we discussed the research prospects of lncRNAs-mediated crosstalk between OSCC cells and the tumor microenvironment in OSCC metastasis, especially the potential research value of exosomes and lymphangiogenesis. In general, lncRNAs are expected to be used for screening, treatment, and prognosis monitoring of OSCC metastasis, but more work is still required to better understand the biological function of lncRNAs.
Highlights
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common type of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) which ranks sixth among cancers worldwide [1]
We introduced the research status of cancer-associated fibroblasts-related Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in OSCC metastasis and discussed the research prospects of lncRNAsmediated crosstalk between OSCC cells and the tumor microenvironment in OSCC metastasis, especially the potential research value of exosomes and lymphangiogenesis, aiming to provide innovative ideas for research related to OSCC metastasis
Taking gastric cancer as an example, Gong et al confirmed that UCA1 expression is abnormally increased in gastric cancer tissues, and high expression of UCA1 is significantly associated with lymph node metastasis
Summary
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common type of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) which ranks sixth among cancers worldwide [1]. LncRNA BLACAT2 (bladder cancer-associated transcript 2) is able to bind directly to WDR5, but it promotes lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis of bladder cancer by enhancing the expression of VEGF-C (vascular endothelial growth factor C) [17] He et al reported the inhibitory effect of long intergenic noncoding RNA 1093 (LINC01093) on the migration, invasion, and metastasis of liver cancer cells. The mechanism is that AC132217.4 interacts with the 3’UTR (3’untranslated region) of IGF2 (insulin-like growth factor 2) mRNA and enhances its stability, thereby enhancing the expression level of IGF2 [61] In another experiment, LINC00460 (long intergenic noncoding RNA 460) was observed to be highly expressed in OSCC tissues and cells, and its expression level is positively correlated with lymph node metastasis. Activation of the Wnt/bcatenin signaling pathway has been proved to contribute to the TABLE 1 | Regulatory roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the metastasis-related biological processes of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)
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