Cited by 4,098Cancer-related molecular mechanisms researchGenomics and Chromatin DynamicsChromosomal and Genetic Variations

Chromatin signature reveals over a thousand highly conserved large non-coding RNAs in mammals

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Guttman, Mitchell, Amit, Ido, Garber, Manuel, French, Courtney, Lin, Michael F., Feldser, David, Huarte, Maite, Zuk, Or +12 more·2009·Nature

Abstract

There is growing recognition that mammalian cells produce many thousands of large intergenic transcripts. However, the functional significance of these transcripts has been particularly controversial. Although there are some well-characterized examples, most (>95%) show little evidence of evolutionary conservation and have been suggested to represent transcriptional noise. Here we report a new approach to identifying large non-coding RNAs using chromatin-state maps to discover discrete transcriptional units intervening known protein-coding loci. Our approach identified approximately 1,600 large multi-exonic RNAs across four mouse cell types. In sharp contrast to previous collections, these large intervening non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) show strong purifying selection in their genomic loci, exonic sequences and promoter regions, with greater than 95% showing clear evolutionary conservation. We also developed a functional genomics approach that assigns putative functions to each lincRNA, demonstrating a diverse range of roles for lincRNAs in processes from embryonic stem cell pluripotency to cell proliferation. We obtained independent functional validation for the predictions for over 100 lincRNAs, using cell-based assays. In particular, we demonstrate that specific lincRNAs are transcriptionally regulated by key transcription factors in these processes such as p53, NFkappaB, Sox2, Oct4 (also known as Pou5f1) and Nanog. Together, these results define a unique collection of functional lincRNAs that are highly conserved and implicated in diverse biological processes.

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  • LincRNAs were taken from reconstructed transcripts that fell entirely within lincRNA chromatin signatures and excluded known protein-coding genes.

    “LincRNAs were collected from reconstructed transcripts (Guttman et al., 2010) that lay entirely within the lincRNA chromatin signatures identified by Guttman et al. (Guttman et al., 2009), which excluded known protein-coding genes.”

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Authors
Guttman, M., Amit, I., Garber, M., French, C., Lin, M. F., Feldser, D., Huarte, M., Zuk, O., Carey, B. W., Cassady, J. P., Cabili, M. N., Jaenisch, R., Mikkelsen, T. S., Jacks, T., Hacohen, N., Bernstein, B. E., Kellis, M., Regev, A., Rinn, J. L., & Lander, E. S.
Affiliations
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research At MIT (US)
  • Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Rinn, John L.
Venue
Nature
Published
2009-02-01
Volume
458
Issue
7235
Pages
223-227
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W1999746344
Cited by
4,098
References
39
Citations by year
2026: 34 · 2025: 85 · 2024: 128 · 2023: 168 · 2022: 233 · 2021: 331 · 2020: 274 · 2019: 301 · 2018: 331 · 2017: 330 · 2016: 322 · 2015: 334 · 2014: 315 · 2013: 266 · 2012: 249
FWCI
72.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (DP1OD003958)
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (U54HG003067, R01HG004037)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
Keywords
long intergenic non-coding RNA, chromatin state, evolutionary conservation, purifying selection, embryonic stem cell pluripotency, cell proliferation, transcription factor regulation, p53, NF-κB, SOX2, Oct4, Nanog, transcriptional noise
MeSH terms
Animals, Base Sequence, Cells, Cultured, Chromatin, Exons, Mammals, Promoter Regions, Genetic, RNA, Transcription Factors, Reproducibility of Results, Conserved Sequence, DNA, Intergenic, Mice

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