Fig. 6.

Model of ceRNA-network regulation. General regulation mechanism of ceRNA-network involving lncRNA, miRNA, and mRNA molecules (A). The down-regulation of lncRNAs in CCs from aged women could determine a major abundance of miRNAs that are able to bind to their mRNA target genes causing their down-regulation and the decrease of protein expression. On the contrary, in CCs from young women, the up-regulation of lncRNAs could determine an increase in the expression miRNA-target genes and their related proteins (B)