Long Noncoding RNAs and Human Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is the most commonly diagnosed malignancies in children and adolescents, pathologically characterized by spindle cells and deviant osteoid formation. Although significant evidences in therapeutic strategies have been accomplished, the conclusion is still unclear for the critical metastatic or persistent osteosarcoma. Therefore, it is essential to develop novel and effective biomarkers or therapeutic targets for diagnosis of osteosarcoma. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), as a novel class of noncoding RNA, are composed of transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides and play critical roles in development and progression of various cancers including osteosarcoma. LncRNAs are mainly involved in different biological process such cell growth, transcription, translation, epigenetic regulation, splicing, chromosome dosage compensation, imprinting, nuclear, cytoplasmic trafficking and cell cycle control. LncRNAs may act as oncogenic or tumor suppressive that can modulate osteosarcoma pathogenesis including cell growth, migration, proliferation, metastasis, invasion and cell apoptosis. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of lncRNAs and its critical role in progression of osteosarcoma. It will be helpful for researchers to evaluate the functional role of lncRNAs in the development of osteosarcoma and enhance the efficacy of therapeutic treatment modalities.