Biological functions and molecular mechanisms of LINC00961 in human cancer

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are more than 200 bp in length and do not translate into functional proteins. They are involved in inhibiting cell growth, migration, and invasion, and in promoting apoptosis. It was found that cancer-related LINC00961 is downregulated in a variety of malignant tumors, including lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma. LINC00961 either inhibits or promotes the expression of many genes to affect cancer progression via microRNAs such as miR-5581-3p, miR-367, miR-223-3p, miR-19-3p, and miR-125b-5p, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. Thus, LINC00961 may be a viable biomarker or therapeutic target for human cancers. In this review, we summarize the current evidence of the biological functions of LINC00961 in tumor development, to provide new insights and ideas for molecular targeted therapy for patients with cancer.