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Recently, various studies shed light on the functional significance of enhancer RNAs. Two recent studies published in Nature by Li et al. and Lam et al. highlight the importance of these newly characterized RNA molecules and their key role in controlling transcriptional programs.
How cells ensure that productive transcription from divergent promoters is limited to the downstream protein-coding region is an important question in the transcription field. A recent study in Nature proposed an answer by revealing that the upstream antisense transcripts undergo early termination through the polyadenylation signal-dependent pathway, and the downstream sense transcripts are protected from premature cleavage by U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP).
The tumor-suppressive activity of PTEN has always been attributed to its endogenous intracellular function. Recently two different groups have demonstrated that PTEN is secreted/exported into the extracellular environment for uptake by recipient cells, and functions as a tumor suppressor in a cell non-autonomous manner.
Recent studies suggest that microRNA (miRNA) processing is a key regulatory step in the miRNA biogenesis as well as its transcriptional control. In a paper recently published in Nature, Shen et al. revealed that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) directly interacts with argonaute 2 (AGO2), a critical component of RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), and inhibits the maturation of specific tumor suppressive miRNAs under hypoxic condition.
The use of genetic screens to define cellular pathways that regulate neurodegenerative disease proteins has emerged as a powerful strategy to identify potential therapeutic targets for these disorders. Using cross-species genetic screens, Park et al. recently identified RAS-MAPK-MSK1 as a cellular pathway that modulates levels of the polyglutamine-containing protein ATXN1 and its subsequent toxicity in SCA1.
The fact that mammals are diploid sets a barrier to rapidly understand the function of non-coding and coding genes in the genome. Recently, Yang et al. reported successful derivation of monkey haploid embryonic stem cells from parthenotes, which provide an effective platform for studying mammalian gene function and enable reverse genetic screening of genes for recessive phenotypes in monkeys.
