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Long Non-coding RNAs in Oocyte and Oocyte-to-Zygote Transition

Long non-coding RNAs are non-protein coding transcripts which are longer than 200nt and mostly polyadenylated. LncRNAs are rapidly evolving group with little if not any sequence conservation ; it is assumed that a relatively small fraction of these transcripts are functional while others might represent yet evolving transcripts or transcriptional noise. Nonetheless, lncRNA function in variety of physiological processes has been widely appreciated, more importantly in early development. They are shown to be involved in regulating several aspects of pluripotency and differentiation. They also form an integral part of ES cell regulatory network by directly interacting with several transcription factors and chromatin modifiers. While LncRNA contribution is thoroughly exploited in early developmental stages, their role in oocyte development and Oocyte-to-Embryo transition (OET) is the least explored. Understanding composition of maternal and zygotic non-coding RNA pools is pre-requisite for understanding their biological roles during OET. In our study, we use NGS of total RNA from mouse oocytes and early embryos to identify and annotate 1600 lncRNA loci expressed in mouse oocytes and early embryos. We characterize OET lncRNAs expressed at these loci, including their transcriptional and post-transcriptional temporal dynamics and comparison with mRNAs. Importantly, we describe the contribution of LTR retrotransposons in oocytes and zygotes, specifically in lncRNA evolution, expression and function. Furthermore, we identified a specific class of lncRNAs, which function in small RNA biogenesis, hence coupling small RNA biology with LncRNAs. Our study puts together a comprehensive analysis of lncRNAs in oocytes and OET including their probable function.

endo-siRNA ; lncRNA ; oocyte ; polyadenylation ; zygote

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