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Cancer pathways

The identification of genes related to cancer origin and progression has been greatly expanded with the establishment of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortia, which include most tumor types, matching DNA sequencing, and RNA transcripts. As a result, we now have a better grasp of the molecular pathways underlying cancer, its biochemistry, and, therefore, new therapeutic targets.  Here, we showcase some recent scientific papers which describe distinct aspects of the molecular mechanisms involved in cancer development and progression, as well as its liaison with new potential therapeutic interventions.

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  1. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are an important subset of innate immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, and they are pivotal regulators of tumor-promoting inflammation and tumor progression. Evidence...

    Authors: Yangon Zhang, Shu Ma, Tie Li, Yu Tian, Huangao Zhou, Hongsheng Wang and Lan Huang
    Citation: Biology Direct 2023 18:56
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and challenging cancers in the world. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in the progression of HC...

    Authors: Runkun Liu, Guozhi Yin, Hang Tuo, Yixian Guo, Yifeng Zhu, Lei Zhang, Wei Yang, Qingguang Liu and Yufeng Wang
    Citation: Biology Direct 2023 18:53
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Previously, we identified an oncogenic splicing variant of DOCK5 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC); however, the mechanism for the generation of this specific DOCK5 variant remains unknown. This...

    Authors: Chao Liu, Guo Li, Siyuan Zheng, Li She, Shanhong Lu, Yunyun Wang, Donghai Huang, Xin Zhang, Lunquan Sun, Yong Liu and Yuanzheng Qiu
    Citation: Biology Direct 2023 18:39
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. LncRNA PSMA3-AS1 functions as an oncogene in several cancers, including ovarian cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer. However, its role in gastric cancer (GC) progression remains unclear. In this study, ...

    Authors: Liang Kan, Meiqi Yang and Huijing Zhang
    Citation: Biology Direct 2023 18:36
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive system, ranking third for morbidity and mortality worldwide. At present, no effective control method is available for this ca...

    Authors: Tian-yue Liu, Chen-chen Hu, Chen-ying Han, Si-yi Mao, Wen-xin Zhang, Yi-ming Xu, Yuan-jie Sun, Dong-bo Jiang, Xi-yang Zhang, Jia-xing Zhang, Jing Wang, Xu-peng Qiao, Jing-yu Pan, Shu-ya Yang and Kun Yang
    Citation: Biology Direct 2023 18:19
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Accumulating studies have demonstrated that the Warburg effect plays a central role in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), albeit the role of non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in its associ...

    Authors: Chuanjiang Liu, Kequan Xu, Jiayin Liu, Chao He, Pan Liu, Qiang Fu, Hongwei Zhang and Tao Qin
    Citation: Biology Direct 2023 18:15
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. During oncogenesis, cells become unrestrictedly proliferative thereby altering the tissue homeostasis and resulting in subsequent hyperplasia. This process is paralleled by resumption of cell cycle, aberrant D...

    Authors: Julian M. Rozenberg, Svetlana Zvereva, Aleksandra Dalina, Igor Blatov, Ilya Zubarev, Daniil Luppov, Alexander Bessmertnyi, Alexander Romanishin, Lamak Alsoulaiman, Vadim Kumeiko, Alexander Kagansky, Gerry Melino, Carlo Ganini and Nikolai A. Barlev
    Citation: Biology Direct 2021 16:23
    Content type: Review Published on:

  10. Recently, overwhelming evidence supports that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in the occurrence and progression of tumors. However, the role and mechanism of lncRNA TFAP2A-AS1 in human gastric...

    Authors: Xin Zhao, Linlin Chen, Jingxun Wu, Jun You, Qingqi Hong and Feng Ye
    Citation: Biology Direct 2021 16:21
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. The interaction between proteins is a fundamental event for cellular life that is generally mediated by specialized protein domains or modules. PDZ domains are the largest class of protein–protein interaction ...

    Authors: Caterina Nardella, Lorenzo Visconti, Francesca Malagrinò, Livia Pagano, Marianna Bufano, Marianna Nalli, Antonio Coluccia, Giuseppe La Regina, Romano Silvestri, Stefano Gianni and Angelo Toto
    Citation: Biology Direct 2021 16:15
    Content type: Review Published on:

  12. The mutation of TP53 gene affects half of all human cancers, resulting in impairment of the regulation of several cellular functions, including cell cycle progression and cell death in response to genotoxic st...

    Authors: Emanuele Panatta, Carlotta Zampieri, Gerry Melino and Ivano Amelio
    Citation: Biology Direct 2021 16:14
    Content type: Opinion Published on:

  13. Growing evidence has demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can function as modulators in the development of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, the function of lncRNA small nucleolar RNA ...

    Authors: Jintao Qian, Xinhan Lei, Yue Sun, Lu Zheng, Jia Li, Shuai Zhang, Lei Zhang, Wanwan Li, Jianing Shi, Wenjun Jia and Tong Tang
    Citation: Biology Direct 2021 16:13
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. Most inactivating mutations in TP53 gene generates neomorphic forms of p53 proteins that experimental evidence and clinical observations suggest to exert gain-of-function effects. While massive effort has been...

    Authors: Eleonora Mammarella, Carlotta Zampieri, Emanuele Panatta, Gerry Melino and Ivano Amelio
    Citation: Biology Direct 2021 16:11
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase-4 (ACSL4) is involved in fatty acid metabolism, and aberrant ACSL4 expression could be either tumorigenic or tumor-suppressive in different tumor types. However, the function and...

    Authors: Yixiang Zhang, Songyu Li, Fengzhou Li, Changsheng Lv and Qing-kai Yang
    Citation: Biology Direct 2021 16:10
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. Cancer is a major health problem which presents a high heterogeneity. In this work we explore omics data from Breast, Kidney and Lung cancers at different levels as signalling pathways, functions and miRNAs, a...

    Authors: Sergio Romera-Giner, Zoraida Andreu Martínez, Francisco García-García and Marta R. Hidalgo
    Citation: Biology Direct 2021 16:9
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. Aetiogenesis of cancer has not been fully determined. Recent advances have clearly defined a role for microenvironmental factors in cancer progression and initiation; in this context, microbiome has recently e...

    Authors: Ivana Celardo, Gerry Melino and Ivano Amelio
    Citation: Biology Direct 2020 15:25
    Content type: Review Published on:

  18. LINC00426 is a newly identified long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) with unacknowledged biological roles. Here we set out to characterize the expression status of LINC00426 in osteosarcoma and understand its mechanis...

    Authors: Lulin Wang, Yi Luo, Yiquan Zheng, Lifeng Zheng, Wenxiang Lin, Zonglin Chen, Shichun Wu, Jinhong Chen and Yun Xie
    Citation: Biology Direct 2020 15:11
    Content type: Research Published on:

  19. Patients diagnosed as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with CD5 positive normally have a worse outcome and poorly respond to the regulatory treatment strategy.

    Authors: Qingyuan Qu, Ying Li, Xiaosheng Fang, Lingyan Zhang, Chao Xue, Xueling Ge, Xin Wang and Yujie Jiang
    Citation: Biology Direct 2019 14:23
    Content type: Research Published on:

  20. CB2 (cannabinoid receptor 2) agonists have been shown to exert anti-tumor activities in different tumor types. However, there is no study exploring the role of MDA19 (a novel CB2 agonist) in tumors. In this study...

    Authors: Mei Rao, Dongfeng Chen, Peng Zhan and Jianqing Jiang
    Citation: Biology Direct 2019 14:9
    Content type: Research Published on: