Emerging Roles of ncRNAs Regulating PKM2 in Cancer Progression

Abstract

Cancer is one of the main reasons for death, and it threatens human life and health. Both the environment and genes can lead to cancers. It dates back more than a million years; more importantly, tumor cells can not be detected until they grow to a large number. Currently, cancers are treated with surgical excision or non-surgical procedures. By studying the interaction between ncRNAs and PKM2, we aim to provide new targets for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis for cancers. Read relevant articles and made a summary and classification. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are RNAs that do not code for proteins. They perform a function in transcription and translation and can be used as targets for cancer therapy. Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is a form of PKM, and it catalyzes the glycolysis of the final cellular processes to promote tumorigenesis. Not only that, but it also plays non-metabolic functions, including the expression of the gene, cell proliferation, cell migration, and tumor angiogenesis in cancer cells. The existing studies have found that microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) can promote or inhibit the aerobic glycolysis of cancer cells by affecting PKM2, which increases or decrease the risk of cancers and affect the progression of cancers. This review focuses on the mechanism of ncRNAs regulating PKM2 in cancers and summarizes the roles of some ncRNAs.