H19: A Regulatory Biomarker with Prognostic Value in Leukemias

Abstract

There are pieces of evidence indicating the important role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) with transcription factors and their effect on gene expression at transcription and epigenetic levels. The possible role of lncRNAs in humans have been investigated the involvement of H19 in cancers, including leukemia. H19 inhibits the transcription of IGF-2 receptor via miR-675 and thereby regulates IGF-2 signaling. In chronic myeloproliferative disorders (CMPD), bone marrow cells of patients express H19 in significantly lower levels than healthy samples, and the reduced expression of H19 through IGF-2 reinforces the growth signal. H19 plays a regulatory role in maintaining the proliferation and self-renewal abilities of HSCs. This molecule also influences the pathogenesis of leukemia due to its role in increasing the proliferation and regulating the quiescence of stem cells. Accordingly, it may be possible to consider H19 as a prognostic biomarker for myeloid disorders. In this review, the probable regulatory role of H19 as a prognostic biomarker with a variable role dependent upon disease context will be discussed.