Long non-coding RNA SNHG16 and neoplastic transformations in neural progenitor cells

• Grant number: 18/23237-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2019
• End date: January 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Oswaldo Keith Okamoto
• Grantee: Alice Kei Endo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The lncRNAs are RNAs with 200 or more nucleotides, considered to be important regulatory components since they act in the transcriptional, post-transcriptional and epigenetic regulation. Changes in the expression pattern of these RNA transcripts lead to the development and/or worsening of cancer. SNHG16 is a lncRNAs described for having influence in the increase of proliferation and metastasis in different kinds of cancers such as breast cancer, esophageal cancer and uterine cancer. Recent studies done in our laboratory have been showing that SNHG16 participates in neurogenesis as a regulator of a microRNA known as miR-124. The expression of SNHG16 is high when analyzed in neuroprogenitor cells, however that expression decreases as the neurogenesis proceeds. Bearing in mind that SNHG16 has participation in different kinds of cancers and that it is involved in neurogenesis, the present project aims to study whether a possible deregulation in the expression profile of SNHG16 during neurogenesis may influence the development of tumors of the central nervous system, responsible for most of cancer death in children.