Abstract
Many studies have revealed that circulating long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate gene and protein expression in the process of hepatic fibrosis. Liver fibrosis is a reversible wound healing response followed by excessive extracellular matrix accumulation. In the development of liver fibrosis, some lncRNAs regulate diverse cellular processes by acting as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) and binding proteins. Previous investigations demonstrated that overexpression of lncRNAs such as H19, maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3), growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5), Gm5091, NR_002155.1, and HIF 1alpha-antisense RNA 1 (HIF1A-AS1) can inhibit the progression of liver fibrosis. Furthermore, the upregulation of several lncRNAs [e.g., nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1), hox transcript antisense RNA (Hotair), and liver-enriched fibrosis-associated lncRNA1 (lnc-LFAR1)] has been reported to promote liver fibrosis. This review will focus on the functions and mechanisms of lncRNAs, the lncRNA transcriptome profile of liver fibrosis, and the main lncRNAs involved in the signalling pathways that regulate hepatic fibrosis. This review provides insight into the screening of therapeutic and diagnostic markers of liver fibrosis.
Highlights
Liver fibrosis, a reversible wound healing response followed by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation, is a major public health concern and is caused by increased synthesis and deposition of ECM components and decreased or unbalanced ECM degradation [1,2]
It is worth noting that the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways of the differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs that are essential for liver fibrosis development are enriched predominantly in ECM–receptor interaction, the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)-AKT signalling pathway, and focal adhesion pathways [46]
The long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) hox transcript antisense RNA (Hotair) located in the homeobox complex (HOXC) locus has been studied extensively in cancer, and the findings strongly suggest that Hotair promotes cancer progression [21,22,42,84]
Summary
A reversible wound healing response followed by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation, is a major public health concern and is caused by increased synthesis and deposition of ECM components and decreased or unbalanced ECM degradation [1,2]. Many LncRNAs are Expressed in Human Hepatic Fibrosis Tissues and Cells. The first insights into lncRNA expression pattern changes in activated human HSCs have been reported [38]. Delineating lncRNA expression patterns will help to better recognize the function of lncRNAs in liver fibrosis. Among those identified lncRNAs, some lncRNAs were firmly linked to numerous proteins and collagen genes that regulate the ECM during fibrotic scar formation, according to coexpression analyses [37]. NEAT1, HULC, and MALAT1 were more highly expressed in fibrotic tissues than in normal tissue [27] These results show that lncRNAs are potentially important contributors to the progression and formation of liver fibrosis in humans
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