Parallels between artificial reprogramming and the biogenesis of cancer stem cells: Involvement of lncRNAs

Cellular identity is established and maintained by the interplay of cell type-specific transcription factors and epigenetic regulation of the genome. During development in vivo and differentiation in vitro, transitions from one cell type to the next are triggered by cell signaling events culminating in modifications of chromatin that render genes accessible or inaccessible to the transcriptional apparatus. In recent years it has become apparent that cellular identity is plastic, and technological reprogramming methods such as somatic cell nuclear transfer and induced pluripotency can yield reprogrammed cells that have been restored to a state of developmental potency. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are untranslated functional RNA molecules that are intimately involved in the regulation of the chromatin of protein-coding genes. In fact, recent evidence shows that there are more lncRNA species in the cell than mRNA species and that most protein-coding genes are likely to be under epigenetic regulation mediated by lncRNAs. This review examines lncRNA function in reprogrammed pluripotent cells and cancer stem cells. Because cancer stem cells arise from normal cells, their biogenesis can be viewed as a reprogramming process that occurs in vivo, and parallels between artificial reprogramming and cancer stem cell biogenesis are discussed.