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LincRNAs join the pluripotency alliance

Nature Genetics volume 42, pages 1035–1036 (2010)Cite this article

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A new study shows that somatic cell reprogramming is accompanied by changes in the expression of large intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs). Some of these reprogramming-induced lincRNAs are directly targeted by key pluripotency factors and regulate reprogramming, implicating lincRNAs in the reinstatement and maintenance of pluripotency.

In the past few years, diverse classes of non-coding RNAs have been identified, characterized and shown to have important biological functions. In addition to small non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs, the mammalian genome also encodes long non-coding RNAs with lengths greater than 200 nucleotides1. In particular, chromatin-state maps revealed thousands of lincRNAs that are marked by H3K4me3 and H3K36me3 and which are actively transcribed by RNA polymerase II to generate multi-exonic transcripts at least 5 kb in size2. These lincRNAs appear to be evolutionarily conserved and are associated with diverse biological processes2. Pluripotency-associated lincRNAs were initially discovered in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs)2, but evidence to support their direct functional relevance has been lacking. On page 1113 of this issue, John Rinn, George Daley and colleagues profiled the expression of lincRNAs during the derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)3, identified iPSC-enriched lincRNAs and showed that lincRNA-RoR (also known as lincRNA-ST8SIA3) regulates reprogramming. This finding provides the first example of a lincRNA with a functional role in reprogramming and paves the way for mechanistic studies to allow a better understanding of the roles of lincRNAs in establishing pluripotency and altering cellular fate.

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Figure 1: Expression of lincRNAs in iPSCs.

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Acknowledgements

J.-H.N. is supported by the A*STAR Graduate Scholarship. We are grateful to the Biomedical Research Council, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore.

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  1. Jia-Hui Ng is at the Gene Regulation Laboratory, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore and the Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.,

    Jia-Hui Ng

  2. the Department of Biochemistry, the Department of Biological Sciences, Huck-Hui Ng is at the Gene Regulation Laboratory, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore and the School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.,

    Huck-Hui Ng

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Correspondence to Huck-Hui Ng.

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Ng, JH., Ng, HH. LincRNAs join the pluripotency alliance. Nat Genet 42, 1035–1036 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1210-1035

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