CRISPR/Cas9 Genome-Editing Technology and Potential Clinical Application in Gastric Cancer.

Gastric cancer is the subject of clinical and basic studies due to its high incidence and mortality rates worldwide. Due to the diagnosis occurring in advanced stages and the classic treatment methodologies such as gastrectomy and chemotherapy, they are extremely aggressive and limit the quality of life of these patients. CRISPR/Cas9 is a tool that allows gene editing and has been used to explore the functions of genes related to gastric cancer, in addition to being used in the treatment of this neoplasm, greatly increasing our understanding of cancer genomics. In this mini-review, we seek the current status of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology in gastric cancer research and clinical research.

LINC00152 Promotes Invasion through a 3'-Hairpin Structure and Associates with Prognosis in Glioblastoma.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) are increasingly implicated in oncogenesis. Here, it is determined that LINC00152/CYTOR is upregulated in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and aggressive wild-type IDH1/2 grade 2/3 gliomas and upregulation associates with poor patient outcomes. LINC00152 is similarly upregulated in over 10 other cancer types and associates with a poor prognosis in 7 other cancer types. Inhibition of the mostly cytoplasmic LINC00152 decreases, and overexpression increases cellular invasion. LINC00152 knockdown alters the transcription of genes important to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). PARIS and Ribo-seq data, together with secondary structure prediction, identified a protein-bound 121-bp stem-loop structure at the 3' end of LINC00152 whose overexpression is sufficient to increase invasion of GBM cells. Point mutations in the stem-loop suggest that stem formation in the hairpin is essential for LINC00152 function. LINC00152 has a nearly identical homolog, MIR4435-2HG, which encodes a near identical hairpin, is equally expressed in low-grade glioma (LGG) and GBM, predicts poor patient survival in these tumors, and is also reduced by LINC00152 knockdown. Together, these data reveal that LINC00152 and its homolog MIR4435-2HG associate with aggressive tumors and promote cellular invasion through a mechanism that requires the structural integrity of a hairpin structure.Implications: Frequent upregulation of the lncRNA, LINC00152, in glioblastoma and other tumor types combined with its prognostic potential and ability to promote invasion suggests LINC00152 as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target. Mol Cancer Res; 16(10); 1470-82. ©2018 AACR.