Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 963 (LINC00963)

Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 963 (LINC00963, also called MetaLnc9) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) located on chromosome 9q34 and is not translated into protein[4]. LINC00963 is significantly upregulated in multiple cancer types, including colorectal, breast, prostate, hepatocellular, head and neck, and others, where it promotes malignancy by enhancing cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and resistance to therapy[1][2][3][5]. Mechanistically, LINC00963 acts primarily through sponging various microRNAs (such as miR-10b, miR-1281, miR-204-3p, miR-324-3p, and miR-532-3p), thus derepressing target oncogenes and activating pro-tumor signaling pathways like AKT/mTOR and PI3K/AKT[1][2][3][5]. It serves as a potential therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker, but no approved drugs are known to directly target LINC00963[1][2][5]. Its oncogenic functions and molecular interactions make it a notable candidate for lncRNA-based cancer therapies, but its multifunctionality may raise safety and specificity concerns in therapeutic applications.

Other names

MetaLnc9

Competes as a molecular sponge for various microRNAs (e.g., miR-10b, miR-1281, miR-204-3p, miR-324-3p, miR-532-3p) to regulate downstream target genes (e.g., FGF13, TRIM65, FN1, ACK1, HMGA2) and signaling pathways (AKT/mTOR, PI3K/AKT)[1][2][3][5] - Modulates tumor progression, proliferation, migration, invasion, and radioresistance by ceRNA (competing endogenous RNA) mechanisms[1][2][3]