Targeting the long non coding RNA HOTAIR in cancer

摘要

Ovarian cancer (OC) takes the lives of nearly 14,000 US women every year. Although platinum is one of the most effective drugs in treating ovarian cancer, the development of platinum resistance is one of the biggest challenges facing patients. I have shown that the long non-coding RNA HOTAIR contributes to platinum-resistant OC and determined the regulators and targets of HOTAIR during the platinum-induced DNA damage response. My published data supports the role of HOTAIR in contributing to DNA damage induced cellular senescence and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines leading to cisplatin resistance. My unpublished work (under review) analyzed the interaction of HOTAIR with the PRC2, its known interacting partner. In this study, I developed a novel strategy blocking HOTAIR-PRC2 interaction and resensitized ovarian tumors to platinum in mouse studies. The results offer a pre-clinical proof of concept for targeting long non-coding RNAs as a therapeutic approach and may represent a strategy to overcome chemotherapy resistance in tumors exhibiting high expression of HOTAIR, a frequent observation in high grade serous OC.