The Role of ncRNAs (non-coding RNAs) in Regulating Tumor Immune Microenvironment

Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), which do not code for proteins, comprise 98% of the transcriptome. ncRNAs can be mainly classified into microRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs. Accumulating evidence has shown the well-established role of miRNAs and emerging roles of lncRNAs and circRNAs in the modulation of tumor immune microenvironment, regulation of immune cell differentiation, epigenetic regulation of immune checkpoints, and as potential targets for immunotherapies. For example, glioma exosome miRNAs can influence the differentiation and activation of MDSCs, thus affecting the entirety of the tumor immune environment. Linc00301 was also proven to facilitate lung tumor in secreting TGF-β1 to drive Treg cell infiltration and to repress CD8+T cell amount, exerting an immune-suppressive role in the tumor microenvironment. Recent studies have revealed that circ-0000977 promotes the expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells, inhibits the activation of T cells, and induces T cell apoptosis. However, research on this topic is still in its infancy, and the pathological roles and mechanism of ncRNAs in the tumor immune microenvironment remain to be further explored. It is of great importance to identify more immune cell or cancer cell-specific lncRNAs and circRNAs and to clarify their regulatory mechanisms. Additionally, further research needs to be conducted on circRNAs derived from stromal cells (such as CAFs, endothelial cells, and immune cells) in the tumor immune microenvironment. Although some studies have validated the effects of therapeutics targeting ncRNAs in vivo, a huge gap between animal studies and clinic application still exists. The efficacy and safety of ncRNAs as targets for cancer immunotherapy need to be further evaluated.

Therefore, for this Research Topic, we would like to provide a forum for recent studies exploring the mechanisms of ncRNAs in regulating tumor immune microenvironment and pave way for future therapeutic strategies. We welcome Original Research and Review articles focusing on, but are not limited to the following themes:
1. ncRNAs dysregulation in cancer cells, immune cells, cancer-related stromal cells, and exosomes
2. ncRNAs as the regulator of immune checkpoints or exosomal PD-L1 in cancer
3. Tumor immune microenvironment composition and related ncRNAs
4. ncRNAs as the regulator of cancer immunotherapy
5. Identification and validation of ncRNAs in microenvironment as prognostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets


Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.