Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) in cancer

Napoli, Sara; Munz, Nicolas; Guidetti, Francesca; Bertoni, Francesco

doi:10.3390/cancers14081978

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Journal article

Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) in cancer
: the jacks of all trades

Napoli, Sara ORCID Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
Munz, Nicolas Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
Guidetti, Francesca ORCID Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
Bertoni, Francesco ORCID Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland - Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Bellinzona, Switzerland

2022

Published in:

Cancers . - 2022, vol. 14, no. 8, p. 1978

English Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) are non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) transcribed in enhancer regions. They play an important role in transcriptional regulation, mainly during cellular differentiation. eRNAs are tightly tissue- and cell-type specific and are induced by specific stimuli, activating promoters of target genes in turn. eRNAs usually have a very short half-life but in some cases, once activated, they can be stably expressed and acquire additional functions. Due to their critical role, eRNAs are often dysregulated in cancer and growing number of interactions with chromatin modifiers, transcription factors, and splicing machinery have been described. Enhancer activation and eRNA transcription have particular relevance also in inflammatory response, placing the eRNAs at the interplay between cancer and immune cells. Here, we summarize all the possible molecular mechanisms recently reported in association with eRNAs activity.

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