Schematic view of the different mechanisms through which lncRNAs can modulate apoptosis. (a) Transcriptional inhibition, as reported for PTENpg1 asRNA and proposed for HOXA-AS2 and LincRNA-EPS towards PTEN, TRAIL, and Pycard genes, respectively. (b) miRNA sponge. PTENpg1 can function as decoy for PTEN mRNA-targeting miRNAs; similar mechanism has been supposed for SPRY4-IT1. (c) Inhibition of mRNA translation. LincRNA-RoR has been hypothesized to interact with the mRNA binding protein hnRNP1 modulating the translation of p53 mRNA. L-bar arrows indicate gene transcription; T-bar arrows indicate negative regulation; green arrows indicate positive regulation; red arrows indicate release/translocation; grey arrows indicate mRNA translocation/translation; and ? indicates a supposed mechanism.
