New Insights into the Epigenetics of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Table 3

The potential roles of widely studied HCC-related lncRNAs.

lncRNA	Potential role in HCC	Ref.
HOTAIR	Overexpression of HOTAIR is associated with progression of HCC via activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. HOTAIR upregulates expression of ATG3 and ATG7 that ultimately activate autophagy and promote HCC cell proliferation.	[69, 70]
CCAT1	CCAT1 functions as let-7 sponge and increases HCC progression.	[71]
HULC	HULC increases the metastasis and tumorigenesis of HCC through miR-200a-3p/ZEB1 signaling pathway.	[72]
H19	Low expression of H19 decreases HCC progression and metastasis via upregulation of miR-200 family.	[73]
HOTTIP	HOTTIP overexpression is associated with metastasis in HCC patients. This lncRNA is negatively regulated by miR-125b.	[74, 75]
BANCR	BANCR is considered as an important contributor of progression and initiation of HCC and therefore can be used as biomarker.	[76]
MALAT1	MALAT1 is associated with tumor progression because of its upregulation in HCC cell lines.	[77]
HEIH	HEIH is oncogenic in nature and promotes tumor progression.	[78]
PTENP1	PTENP1 represses tumorigenic properties of HCC cells.	[79]
SNHG20	SNHG20 is upregulated in HCC and may serve as prognostic biomarker of HCC.	[80]
MEG3	Tumor suppressor MEG3 is associated with pathogenesis of HCC malignancy.	[81]
TUC338	Upregulation of TUC338 and TUC339 modulates cell growth and increases liver cirrhosis.	[82, 83]
LINC-ROR	LINC-ROR acts as mediator of chemotherapeutic response and increases chemosensitivity in HCC because HCC is highly resistant to chemotherapy. It also promotes cell survival during hypoxia.	[84, 85]
MVIH	MVIH confirms overall-survival and recurrence-free survival.	[86]
lncRNA-ATB	lncRNA-ATB acts as a mediator of TGF-β signaling that increases metastasis in HCC.	[87]
TUG1	Upregulation of TUG1 in HCC and increasing apoptosis and cell growth by epigenetic silencing of KLF2.	[88]
URHC	URHC expression is increased in HCC tissues. It regulates apoptosis and cell proliferation via downregulation of ZAK.	[89]
FTX	Binds to miR-374a and MCM2 and inhibits metastasis and proliferation in HCC.	[90]
PVT1	High expression level of PVT1 is linked with tumor progression and may act as biomarker of tumor recurrence in HCC patients.	[91]
lncRNA-p21	lncRNA-p21 is downregulated in HCC and its overexpression inhibits tumor invasion by inhibiting Notch signaling and EMT.	[92]
UCA1	Upregulation of UCA1 is associated with progression of HCC via activation of FGFR1-ERK signaling pathway and inhibition of miR-216b.	[93]
MT1DP	MT1DP acts as tumor suppressor and inhibits FOXA1 in liver cancer cells because of negative regulation of MT1DP by YAP and RUNx2.	[94]
UFC1	Upregulation of HFC1 promotes cell cycle progression and HCC cell proliferation.	[95]
SRHC	Downregulation of SRHC inhibits cancer proliferation; however, the epigenetically silenced SRHC promotes proliferation in HCC.	[96]
PCNA-AS1	PCNA-AS1 can serve as therapeutic target because it promotes tumor growth in HCC.	[97]
lncRNA-LET	Downregulation of LET is associated with reduction in HCC metastasis and invasion.	[79]
lncRNA-Dreh	lncRNA-Dreh is important in tumor suppression. Downregulation of Dreh inhibits HCC metastasis by targeting vimentin.	[98]
UCA1/CUDR	UCA1/CUDR is involved in chemotherapeutic resistance.	[99]