Emerging role of long non-coding RNAs in cisplatin resistance

Yang Hu,1,2 Qiong-Ni Zhu,1,2 Jun-Li Deng,1,2 Zhi-Xing Li,1,2 Guo Wang,1,2 Yuan-Shan Zhu3 1Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Hunan Key Laboratory of Pharmacogenetics, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA Abstract: Cisplatin (CDDP) is one of the most commonly used chemotherapy drugs for the treatment of various cancers. Although platinum-based therapies are highly efficacious against rapidly proliferating malignant tumors, the development of CDDP resistance results in significant relapse as well as decreased overall survival rates, which is a significant obstacle in CDDP-based cancer therapy. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in cancer development and progression by the regulation of processes related to chromatin remodeling, transcription, and posttranscriptional processing. Emerging evidence has recently highlighted the roles of lncRNAs in the development of CDDP resistance. In this review, we discuss the roles and mechanisms of lncRNAs in CDDP chemoresistance, including changes in cellular uptake or efflux of a drug, intracellular detoxification, DNA repair, apoptosis, autophagy, cell stemness, and the related signaling pathways, aiming to provide potential lncRNA-targeted strategies for overcoming drug resistance in cancer therapy. Keywords: cisplatin, lncRNAs, chemoresistance, cance