Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany.
Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Nature. 2019 Jul;571(7766):510-514. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1341-x. Epub 2019 Jun 26.
Although many long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified in human and other mammalian genomes, there has been limited systematic functional characterization of these elements. In particular, the contribution of lncRNAs to organ development remains largely unexplored. Here we analyse the expression patterns of lncRNAs across developmental time points in seven major organs, from early organogenesis to adulthood, in seven species (human, rhesus macaque, mouse, rat, rabbit, opossum and chicken). Our analyses identified approximately 15,000 to 35,000 candidate lncRNAs in each species, most of which show species specificity. We characterized the expression patterns of lncRNAs across developmental stages, and found many with dynamic expression patterns across time that show signatures of enrichment for functionality. During development, there is a transition from broadly expressed and conserved lncRNAs towards an increasing number of lineage- and organ-specific lncRNAs. Our study provides a resource of candidate lncRNAs and their patterns of expression and evolutionary conservation across mammalian organ development.
尽管在人类和其他哺乳动物基因组中已经鉴定出许多长非编码 RNA（lncRNA），但这些元件的系统功能特征仍受到很大限制。特别是，lncRNA 对器官发育的贡献在很大程度上仍未得到探索。在这里，我们分析了七个物种（人类、恒河猴、小鼠、大鼠、兔、负鼠和鸡）的七个主要器官从早期器官发生到成年的整个发育过程中 lncRNA 的表达模式。我们的分析在每个物种中鉴定出大约 15000 到 35000 个候选 lncRNA，其中大多数具有物种特异性。我们描述了 lncRNA 在整个发育阶段的表达模式，并发现许多 lncRNA 在时间上表现出动态表达模式，其功能富集特征明显。在发育过程中，lncRNA 经历了从广泛表达和保守到越来越多的谱系和器官特异性的转变。我们的研究提供了一个候选 lncRNA 及其在哺乳动物器官发育过程中的表达和进化保守性的资源。
