Chen Lin, Zhang Sheng
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, People's Republic of China.
Cell Tissue Res. 2016 Dec;366(3):509-521. doi: 10.1007/s00441-016-2451-5. Epub 2016 Jun 30.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were once regarded as nonfunctional by-products of transcription but their effects are now gradually being elucidated. Evidence suggests that lncRNAs play crucial roles in cell biology, especially in regulating gene expression. However, because of the diversity and complexity of their regulatory mechanisms, our knowledge of the function of lncRNAs represents only the tip of the iceberg. Recent studies have shown that lncRNAs are capable of regulating cell differentiation and pluripotency. Thus, we consider it to be an appropriate time to review the progress in understanding the role of lncRNAs in these two biological processes. In this review, the biological characteristics and regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs at the chromatin remodeling level, transcriptional level and post-transcriptional level are described and recent advances in our comprehension of the role of lncRNAs in cell differentiation and pluripotency are discussed.
长链非编码RNA（lncRNAs）曾被视为转录过程中无功能的副产物，但它们的作用如今正逐渐被阐明。有证据表明，lncRNAs在细胞生物学中发挥着关键作用，尤其是在调控基因表达方面。然而，由于其调控机制的多样性和复杂性，我们对lncRNAs功能的了解仍只是冰山一角。最近的研究表明，lncRNAs能够调控细胞分化和多能性。因此，我们认为现在是时候回顾一下在理解lncRNAs在这两个生物学过程中作用方面所取得的进展了。在这篇综述中，我们描述了lncRNAs在染色质重塑水平、转录水平和转录后水平的生物学特性及调控机制，并讨论了我们对lncRNAs在细胞分化和多能性方面作用理解的最新进展。
