NEAT1 and Paraspeckles in Cancer Development and Chemoresistance.

Non-coding RNA were previously thought to be biologically useless molecules arising from simple transcriptional noise. These are now known to be an integral part of cellular biology and pathology. The wide range of RNA molecules have a diverse range of structures, functions, and mechanisms of action. However, structural long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a particular class of ncRNA that are proving themselves more and more important in cellular biology, as the exact structures that such RNAs form and stabilise become more understood. Nuclear Enriched Abundant Transcript 1 (NEAT1) is a specific structural RNA emerging as a critical component in the progress and development of cancer. NEAT1 forms part of multiple biological pathways, acting through a diverse group of mechanisms. The most important of these is the formation of the paraspeckle, through which it can influence the stability of a tumour to develop resistance to drugs. This review will thus cover the range of effects by which NEAT1 interacts with cancer progression in order to describe the various roles of NEAT1 in chemoresistance, as well as to identify drug targets that protein research alone could not provide.

Nuclear paraspeckles function in mediating gene regulatory and apoptotic pathways.

The nucleus is an essential hub for the regulation of gene expression in both spatial and temporal contexts. The complexity required to manage such a feat has resulted in the evolution of multiple sub-structures in the nucleus such as the nucleolus, small cajal bodies and nuclear stress bodies. The paraspeckle is another membraneless structure composed of RNA elements, primarily the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) Nuclear Enriched Abundant Transcript 1 (NEAT1), associated with RNA binding proteins (RBPs). The paraspeckle is showing signs of being involved in various aspects of gene regulation and its role in many pathologies from cancer to viral infection is beginning to be addressed. Research into paraspeckle-directed gene regulation highlights the increase in the appreciation of the biological significance of non-coding RNA (ncRNA). This review will thus cover the basis of how a structure as large as a paraspeckle forms along with its functions. It will also explore how it effects pathological conditions and can be used in clinical intervention, with special emphasis on the multitude of methods utilised by paraspeckles for apoptotic regulation.