High temporal resolution RNA-seq time series of serum-starved T98G human glioblastoma cells responding to serum stimulation

The advent of next-generation sequencing revealed extensive transcription outside the boundaries of annotated protein-coding genes, giving rise to tens of thousands of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The functional relevance of these transcripts remains unclear. Compellingly, lncRNA expression is strongly linked with adjacent protein-coding gene expression, suggesting potential cis-regulatory roles. To investigate whether these regulatory roles exist, we examine in detail the timing of lncRNA expression relative to transcripts of known function. If a causal cis-regulatory relationship exists, lncRNA activation must necessarily precede changes in adjacent target gene expression. Here, we report a high temporal resolution RNA-seq time course of synchronized T98G human glioblastoma cells responding to serum stimulation. Detailed profiling of the expression dynamics of lncRNAs and protein-coding genes in these synchronized transitioning human cells provides insight into the feasibility of broad-scale cis-regulatory roles for lncRNAs. Overall design: Serum-starved T98G human glioblastoma cells were stimulated with serum-rich media and harvested at ten minute intervals, producing 41 total RNA samples (0 min – 400 min) that were subsequently sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq 2500 v4.0 sequencing system to provide a mean sequencing depth of 37.2 million 125 bp paired-end reads per time point sample.