Long non-coding RNAs: new players in cell differentiation and development.

Alessandro Fatica (1) , Irene Bozzoni (2, 3, 1, 4)

1 Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin"
2 Center for Life Nano Science@Sapienza
3 Institut Pasteur, Fondation Cenci Bolognetti - Istituto Pasteur Italia, Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti
4 Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology of the National Research Council

Genomes of multicellular organisms are characterized by the pervasive expression of different types of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) belong to a novel heterogeneous class of ncRNAs that includes thousands of different species. lncRNAs have crucial roles in gene expression control during both developmental and differentiation processes, and the number of lncRNA species increases in genomes of developmentally complex organisms, which highlights the importance of RNA-based levels of control in the evolution of multicellular organisms. In this Review, we describe the function of lncRNAs in developmental processes, such as in dosage compensation, genomic imprinting, cell differentiation and organogenesis, with a particular emphasis on mammalian development.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Cellular Biology; Development Biology

Alessandro Fatica, Irene Bozzoni. Long non-coding RNAs: new players in cell differentiation and development.. Nature Reviews Genetics, 2014, 15 (1), pp.7-21. ⟨10.1038/nrg3606⟩. ⟨pasteur-01160208⟩