LncRNA shapes the gene expression program towards neurogenesis.

The evolution of brain complexity correlates with an increased expression of long, noncoding (lnc) RNAs in neural tissues. Although prominent examples illustrate the potential of lncRNAs to scaffold and target epigenetic regulators to chromatin loci, only few cases have been described to function during brain development. We present a first functional characterization of the lncRNA , which we term for "RNA upstream of Slitrk3." The gene is well conserved in mammals by sequence and synteny next to the neurodevelopmental gene Slitrk3. is exclusively expressed in neural cells and its expression increases during neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic cortical neural stem cells. Depletion of locks neuronal precursors in an intermediate state towards neuronal differentiation resulting in arrested cell cycle and increased apoptosis. associates with chromatin in the vicinity of genes involved in neurogenesis, most of which change their expression upon depletion. The identification of a range of epigenetic regulators as specific interactors suggests that the lncRNA may mediate gene activation and repression in a highly context-dependent manner.