HOXD-AS1: a novel oncogenic long intergenic non-coding RNA in humans

OBJECTIVE: Long non-coding RNAs are an emerging special class of regulatory RNAs with more than 200 nucleotides that play vital roles in gene regulation, metabolism, drug resistance, cell differentiation, and other processes. These RNAs were also reported to be dysregulated in human disease, especially malignant tumors. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. HOXD cluster antisense RNA 1 (HOXD-AS1), a recently discovered long non-coding RNA, is overexpressed in many cancers. We now review recent advances in understanding the function, role, regulation, and oncogenic properties of HOXD-AS1. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic literature review in PubMed of HOXD-AS1 and cancer-related articles in English, published until June 2018, was conducted. RESULTS: The literature suggests that HOXD-AS1 is an oncogene that regulates diverse physiological and cellular processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion, metastasis, chemoresistance, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, and stem cell formation by interacting with various regulatory proteins and sequestering several microRNAs such as miR608, miR-130a, and miR-217. CONCLUSIONS: HOXD-AS1 may be a prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for various tumor diagnosis and treatment.