Regulation of non-coding RNAs by phytochemicals for cancer therapy

Abstract Micro RNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are the major non-coding RNAs with potential to modulate multiple steps of tumor development. Phytochemicals and nutraceuticals are reported to be safe, affordable, and multi-targeted. Accumulating evidence provides a solid basis for their potential as cancer therapeutics. Phytochemicals have been reported to suppress oncogenic non-coding RNAs while upregulating tumor suppressor non-coding RNAs in several cancer types. The most common phytochemicals known to modulate non-coding RNAs include curcumin, resveratrol, genistein, honokiol, silibinin, bharangin and sulforaphane that are shown to regulate miRNAs and lncRNAs such as miR-15a, miR-16, miR-19, miR-181b, GAS-5, H19, HOTAIR, MALAT1, MEG-3, and NEAT1 among others. In addition to cancer prevention and treatment, phytochemicals can regulate non-coding RNAs and therefore sensitize cancer cells to traditional cancer therapeutics. In some cases, phytochemicals have been modified to improve their bioavailability as well as efficacy for non-coding RNA based therapy. Lastly, phytochemicals target non-coding RNAs either directly or indirectly through modulation of other signaling molecules. How phytochemicals target non-coding RNAs for cancer prevention and treatment is the focus of this chapter.