An Alu-like RNA promotes cell differentiation and reduces malignancy of human neuroblastoma cells.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a pediatric cancer characterized by remarkable cell heterogeneity within the tumor nodules. Here, we demonstrate that the synthesis of a pol III-transcribed non-coding (nc) RNA (NDM29) strongly restricts NB development by promoting cell differentiation, a drop of malignancy processes and a dramatic reduction of the tumor initiating cells (TICs) fraction in the NB cell population. Importantly, the overexpression of NDM29 also confers to malignant NB cells an unpredicted susceptibility to the effects of antiblastic drugs used in NB therapy. Altogether these results suggest the induction of NDM29 expression as possible treatment to increase cancer cells vulnerability to therapeutics and the measure of its synthesis in NB explants as prognostic factor of this cancer type.