Long Non-coding RNAs and Their Role on Epigenome as Diagnostic Markers in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia of T Cells.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of biomarkers of crescent interest in the hematologic and oncologic field. They do not encode proteins and can alter gene expression by acting on different steps of regulation, including DNA methylation and chromatin structure. Recent data identified recurrent somatic alterations in genes involved in DNA methylation and post-translational histone modifications in T-ALL, suggesting that epigenetic homeostasis is critically required in restraining tumor development in the T-cell lineage. Further, recent studies showed that the expression levels of specific lncRNAs correlate with the prognosis of patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia of T-cells (T-ALL). The objectives of this research project are to identify T-ALL-specific lncRNAs to be used as new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of disease and to explore their role on chromatin reorganization and transcriptional regulation that may lead to the onset and progression of T-ALL.