1. Exploring the Dark Matter of Human Proteome: The Emerging Role of Non-Canonical Open Reading Frame (ncORF) in Cancer Diagnosis, Biology, and Therapy.
- Author
-
Ge, Anni, Chan, Curtis, and Yang, Xiaolong
- Subjects
TUMOR treatment ,RNA metabolism ,TUMOR diagnosis ,PROTEIN metabolism ,HEALTH literacy ,EPITHELIAL cells ,GENOMICS ,PROTEIN kinases ,IMMUNE system ,CANCER cell culture ,PEPTIDES ,BIOINFORMATICS ,PROTEOMICS ,ONCOGENES ,TUMORS - Abstract
Simple Summary: With advanced bioinformatic and sequencing technologies, many non-coding RNAs have been found to harbor non-canonical open reading frames (ncORFs). Some studies suggest that many ncORF-encoded microproteins or micropeptides possess important roles in cancer biology, yet the functional roles of these ncORF-encoded peptides are mostly unknown. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of existing knowledge on ncORF-encoded microproteins in cancer biology and highlight their roles as potential prognostic and therapeutic targets in cancer. Cancer develops from abnormal cell growth in the body, causing significant mortalities every year. To date, potent therapeutic approaches have been developed to eradicate tumor cells, but intolerable toxicity and drug resistance can occur in treated patients, limiting the efficiency of existing treatment strategies. Therefore, searching for novel genes critical for cancer progression and therapeutic response is urgently needed for successful cancer therapy. Recent advances in bioinformatics and proteomic techniques have allowed the identification of a novel category of peptides encoded by non-canonical open reading frames (ncORFs) from historically non-coding genomic regions. Surprisingly, many ncORFs express functional microproteins that play a vital role in human cancers. In this review, we provide a comprehensive description of different ncORF types with coding capacity and technological methods in discovering ncORFs among human genomes. We also summarize the carcinogenic role of ncORFs such as pTINCR and HOXB-AS3 in regulating hallmarks of cancer, as well as the roles of ncORFs such as HOXB-AS3 and CIP2A-BP in cancer diagnosis and prognosis. We also discuss how ncORFs such as AKT-174aa and DDUP are involved in anti-cancer drug response and the underestimated potential of ncORFs as therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF