Table 5.

The abnormally expressed lncRNAs and cirRNAs involved in functional regulation of immune cells.

ncRNA type	Name	Expression	Downstream molecules or signaling pathways	Immune target	Function in HCC cells	References
lncRNA	EGFR	Upregulated	/	Treg differentiation, suppresses CTL activity	Enhances tumor growth	(107)
lncRNA	cox-2	/	/	increasing the ability of M1 macrophages, inhibiting the polarization of M2 macrophages	Inhibits apoptosis, Enhances EMT and Metastasis	(108)
lncRNA	Tim3	Upregulated	Lck/NFAT1/AP-1 signaling, Tim-3–Bat3 signaling	Exacerbates Tim-3+ CD8 T cell exhaustion	Inhibits apoptosis	(109)
lncRNA	TUC339	Upregulated	/	Macrophage M1/M2 polarization	/	(110)
lncRNA	FENDRR	Downregulated	miR-423-5p/GADD45B	Suppresses Treg infiltration	Enhances proliferation and inhibits apoptosis	(111)
lncRNA	MALAT1	Upregulated	miR-140/VEGF-A	Facilitates the polarization of macrophage toward the M1 subset	Enhances metastasis and invasion	(112)
lncRNA	KCNQ1OT1	Upregulated	miR-506/PD-L1	T cell apoptosis	Enhances sorafenib resistance	(113)
lncRNA	PCED1B-AS1	Upregulated	miR-194-5p/PD-Ls	Immune suppression of T cells and macrophages	Enhances proliferation and inhibits apoptosis	(114)
lncRNA	NNT-AS1	Upregulated	TGF-β signaling pathway	CD4 T cell infiltration	/	(115)
lncRNA	XIST	Upregulated	miR-155-5p/PD-1/PD-L1.	/	/	(116)
lncRNA	lnc00638	/	miR-4732-3P/ULBP1/PD-L1	NK cell infiltration	/	(117)
circRNA	cir0110102	Downregulated	miR-580-5p/PPARα/CCL2 pathway	Macrophage activation	Inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion	(118)
circRNA	MET	Upregulated	miR-30-5p/Snail/dipeptidyl peptidase 4(DPP4)/CXCL10	CD8+ T cell infiltration	Enhances invasion and metastasis	(119)
circRNA	cir0074854	Downregulated	/	Macrophage M2 Polarization	Inhibits migration and invasion	(120)
circRNA	cir0007456	Downregulated	miR-6852-3p/ICAM-1	Susceptibility to NK cells	/	(121)