Circulating long noncoding RNAs as novel biomarkers of human diseases.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a kind of noncoding RNAs which are longer than ˜200 nucleotides, lacking of protein-encoding capacity and are implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases. Recently, it was demonstrated that lncRNAs could be released into the circulation and be stable in blood. Circulating lncRNAs have been reported to have potential in distinguishing patients from healthy individuals. Therefore, the detection of circulating lncRNAs may be valuable for improving the diagnosis and prognosis of various diseases. This review summarized the current understanding of circulating lncRNAs as novel biomarkers of various human diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, nervous system diseases and other diseases, which highlighted the significance of circulating lncRNAs as novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of human diseases.