Cancer susceptibility 16 (non-protein coding) (CASC16)

Cancer susceptibility 16 (CASC16) is a long intergenic non-protein coding RNA (lincRNA) gene located at chromosome 16q12.1. It does not encode a protein but functions as a regulatory RNA, mainly through modulation of gene expression, chromatin structure, and possibly enhancer-like activity. Numerous studies have found that its expression is upregulated in certain cancer tissues, especially breast cancer, and specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (such as rs4784227) in the CASC16 locus are associated with increased risk and metastasis of breast cancer. High CASC16 expression can also affect methylation and suppress expression of the Breast cancer 1 (BRCA1) gene, with functional links to transcription factors such as FOXA1, impacting cancer proliferation and invasion. CASC16 belongs to the larger family of lincRNAs, which are recognized to play critical roles in gene regulation, often with high tissue specificity. No direct drugs or therapeutic targeting agents currently interact with CASC16, and it is not considered a classical receptor, enzyme, or traditional drug target, but mainly serves as a genetic and molecular biomarker in cancer susceptibility research.

Other names

LOC643714LINC00918cancer susceptibility candidate 16 (non-protein coding)long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 918CASC16