Fig. 3.

Functional mechanisms of lncRNA in HCC. a LncRNAs interacts with DNA to regulate gene expression through binding with promoters or distal regulatory elements, where they recruit epigenetic modifiers to promote or repress gene expression. b LncRNAs bind to mRNAs to regulate their stability, thereby regulating gene expression. Besides, lncRNAs can also bind to miRNAs as molecular sponge, leading to the reactivation of genes targeted by miRNAs. c LncRNAs interact with proteins to regulate their stability or facilitate the formation of protein complex when they function as scaffold. d Several lncRNAs hold the potential to encode small peptide, through which exhibit their biological functions