Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan.
J Biomed Sci. 2020 Feb 25;27(1):38. doi: 10.1186/s12929-020-00628-z.
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have gained increasing attention as they exhibit highly tissue- and cell-type specific expression patterns. LncRNAs are highly expressed in the central nervous system and their roles in the brain have been studied intensively in recent years, but their roles in the spinal motor neurons (MNs) are largely unexplored. Spinal MN development is controlled by precise expression of a gene regulatory network mediated spatiotemporally by transcription factors, representing an elegant paradigm for deciphering the roles of lncRNAs during development. Moreover, many MN-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), are associated with RNA metabolism, yet the link between MN-related diseases and lncRNAs remains obscure. In this review, we summarize lncRNAs known to be involved in MN development and disease, and discuss their potential future therapeutic applications.
长非编码 RNA（lncRNAs）因其具有高度组织和细胞类型特异性的表达模式而受到越来越多的关注。lncRNAs 在中枢神经系统中高度表达，近年来其在大脑中的作用已得到深入研究，但它们在脊髓运动神经元（MNs）中的作用在很大程度上仍未被探索。脊髓 MN 的发育受到转录因子介导的时空精确基因调控网络的控制，这代表了一个解析 lncRNAs 在发育过程中作用的优雅范例。此外，许多与 MN 相关的神经退行性疾病，如肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）和脊髓性肌萎缩症（SMA），都与 RNA 代谢有关，但 MN 相关疾病与 lncRNAs 之间的联系仍然不清楚。在这篇综述中，我们总结了已知参与 MN 发育和疾病的 lncRNAs，并讨论了它们在未来的潜在治疗应用。
