Special Issue "Non-coding RNA Therapeutics Applied to Cancers and Diseases"

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last two decades, our molecular understanding of RNA interference (RNAi), how non-coding RNAs mediate this process, which non-coding RNAs are dysregulated in different disease contexts, and the technology for delivering oligonucleotides in vivo has grown exponentially. Cutting-edge advances in nanomedicine and the recent approval of siRNA-based therapeutics by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States are opening exciting avenues for the development of novel therapeutics for cancer and other diseases based on RNAi modalities. One RNAi modality that is gaining pre-clinical traction as a promising new treatment approach for cancer and other diseases is non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). These RNA molecules can repress the activity of complementary messenger RNAs (mRNAs), are highly conserved, are potent determinants of cell fate, and their dysregulation has causative effects in several disease conditions. The growing appeal of using ncRNAs as therapeutics is based, in large part, on the potential to achieve highly specific, rationally designed therapies based on the primary sequence of the targeted transcripts. The use of this technology allows for the possibility to target disease-specific undruggable molecular events, providing new options for treatment. Since these inhibitor–target interactions are based on complementary base pairing, off-target effects can be predicted and minimized. Another exciting feature of non-coding RNAs is that they can be selected to target multiple mRNAs dysregulated in disease conditions to target multiple nodes within a pathway using a single agent, enhancing therapeutic efficacy and reducing the chances of disease recurrence.

This Special Issue will emphasize the use of both short and long non-coding RNAs as potential therapeutics for cancer and other diseases, highlight new technologies for the delivery of non-coding RNAs in different disease settings, and feature review articles and perspectives showcasing where the field is headed. Papers focusing on the following fields are welcome: miRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, novel RNA-delivery vehicles (e.g., polymers and extracellular vesicles), computational and biostatistics tools to identify disease-relevant non-coding RNAs, novel approaches to improve systemic delivery of non-coding RNAs, and clinical reports showcasing the use of non-coding RNAs for disease management.

Dr. Hernando Lopez-Bertoni
Guest Editor

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• non-coding RNAs
• miRNAs
• lncRNAs
• molecular therapies
• nanoparticles
• extracellular vesicles
• cancer