Splicing dysregulation in cancer: from mechanistic understanding to a new class of therapeutic targets.

Abstract

RNA splicing dysregulation is widespread in cancer. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that splicing defects resulting from splicing dysregulation play critical roles in cancer pathogenesis and can serve as new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancer intervention. These findings have greatly deepened the mechanistic understandings of the regulation of alternative splicing in cancer cells, leading to rapidly growing interests in targeting cancer-related splicing defects as new therapies. Here we summarize the current research progress on splicing dysregulation in cancer and highlight the strategies available or under development for targeting RNA splicing defects in cancer.