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June 29, 2007
In the June 29 issue of the journal Cell, Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD (Kenneth G. and Elaine A. Langone Scholar of the Damon Runyon Foundation '06-'08 and Fellowship Sponsor) and John L. Rinn, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '05-'07) report that non-coding RNAs are involved in regulating HOX gene expression, an important player in how cells know where they are in the body and what they are supposed to become. This finding has significant implications in cancer biology since HOX is improperly regulated in some types of cancer and HOX is key in keeping stem cells from differentiating into the wrong tissue. Understanding how non-coding RNAs affect HOX gene expression is likely to have therapeutic implications for cancer patients.