Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Regenerative Medicine Program, Leiden University Medical Center, Postal zone S1P, P.O. Box 9600, 2300RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
Differentiation. 2010 Nov-Dec;80(4-5):175-83. doi: 10.1016/j.diff.2010.07.003. Epub 2010 Aug 11.
Two decades ago, the existence of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) was discovered. In the following genomics era more transcribed non-coding genomic regions were identified. These were initially regarded as transcriptional noise and did not receive a lot of attention. Emerging data on several of these long non-coding transcripts have refuted this hypothesis by demonstrating that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are important for regulating transcription and cell signaling. A special subset of the lncRNAs affecting gene transcription appears to orchestrate major developmental programs. Here, we discuss the mechanisms by which lncRNAs regulate transcription, and review the evidence that links this class of lncRNAs to a role in development.
二十年前，长非编码 RNA（lncRNA）的存在被发现。在随后的基因组学时代，更多转录的非编码基因组区域被鉴定出来。这些最初被认为是转录噪声，并没有受到太多关注。关于其中一些长非编码转录本的新出现的数据通过证明非编码 RNA（ncRNA）对于调节转录和细胞信号很重要，反驳了这一假设。影响基因转录的 lncRNA 的一个特殊亚类似乎协调主要的发育程序。在这里，我们讨论 lncRNA 调节转录的机制，并回顾将这一类 lncRNA 与发育中的作用联系起来的证据。
