title: Pseudogene-expressed RNAs: a new frontier in cancers.
abstract: Over the past decade, the importance of non-protein-coding functional elements in the human genome has emerged from the water and been identified as a key revelation in post-genomic biology. Since the completion of the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) and FANTOM (Functional Annotation of Mammals) project, tens of thousands of pseudogenes as well as numerous long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes were identified. However, while pseudogenes were initially regarded as non-functional relics littering the human genome during evolution, recent studies have revealed that they play critical roles at multiple levels in diverse physiological and pathological processes, especially in cancer through parental-gene-dependent or parental-gene-independent regulation. Herein, we review the current knowledge of pseudogenes and synthesize the nascent evidence for functional properties and regulatory modalities exerted by pseudogene-transcribed RNAs in human cancers and prospect the potential as molecular signatures in cancer reclassification and tailored therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xuefei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Fengqi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China. zhaoxiawang66@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhaoxia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China. suntgy222@sina.com.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D011544:Pseudogenes / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012313:RNA
keywords: Cancer; Pseudogenes; RNA