Research Progress on Regulating LncRNAs of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Stem Cells

Xiaoli Zhang, Ying Zhu Liver Disease Center of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ying Zhu Email zhuyingsh52@126.comAbstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies around the world. The self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation, and tumorigenic potential of liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) may account for the high recurrence rate and the refractory feature of HCC. Despite extensive researches, the underlying regulatory mechanism of LCSCs has not been fully disclosed. Long nonprotein coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may exert an essential role in regulating various biological functions of LCSCs, such as maintaining the stemness of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and promoting tumor development. Therefore, it is highly critical to determine which lncRNAs can control LCSCs functions and understand how LCSCs are regulated by lncRNAs. Herein, we summarized lncRNAs and the main signaling pathways involved in the regulation of LCSCs found in recent years. Moreover, we shed light on the existence of the network system of lncRNAs and LCSCs, which may provide valuable clues on targeting LCSCs.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC, liver cancer stem cells, LCSCs, long nonprotein coding RNAs, lncRNAs, signaling pathways, network