engleski

Gene regulation via long non-coding RNAs – lessons from yeast

Long non-coding RNAs have in recent years emerged as regulatory molecules in their own right impacting transcriptional regulation at the level of chromatin. Long non-coding RNAs have also been implicated in regulation of embryogenesis and tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. Regulation of gene transcription in yeast underpins a diverse array of cellular processes including metabolic regulation, sporulation and growth responses to nutrient deprivation. For most of these cases the transcription factors that regulate these processes have served as paradigms for our understanding of gene regulation in yeast and mammalian cells. More recently, an additional layer of transcriptional control in yeast has been uncovered in the form of long non-coding RNAs which originate as anti- sense transcripts of known genes or as intergenic transcripts overlapping gene promoters. These long non- coding RNAs and their transcription through promoter regions exhibits complex effects that directly affect promoter conformation at the level of histone modifications and chromatin structure. In this review we summarize some of the best characterized examples of transcriptional control through long non-coding RNAs and suggest that studies in yeast will greatly inform our understanding of the mechanisms of action of long non-coding RNAs in human cells.

transcription; yeast; long non-coding RNA

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