Small nucleolar RNA host gene 20 (SNHG20)

Small nucleolar RNA host gene 20 (SNHG20) is a long non-coding RNA of 2183 nucleotides, located on chromosome 17q25.2, and serves as an oncogenic regulator in multiple human cancers. SNHG20 is typically upregulated in tumor tissues and is associated with advanced disease stage and poor patient prognosis. Mechanistically, SNHG20 promotes cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis by binding to EZH2 (a core component of PRC2), resulting in epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor gene P21, and also affects other cell cycle and proliferation markers such as PCNA and Ki-67. It may also interact with or regulate other genes and microRNAs (e.g., STAT3, miR-495, DDX17). There are currently no approved drugs directly targeting SNHG20, but it is considered a promising future target for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.

Other names

PRO0872FLJ25582DKFZp686L05235SCARNA16HGC17orf86LINC00338NCRNA00338long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 338small nucleolar RNA host gene 20 (non-protein coding)

Epigenetic silencing via interaction with EZH2 leading to repression of P21 transcription; Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanism (regulation of DDX17, miR-495, STAT3)