LincRNA-p21 Blocks Somatic Cell Reprogramming by Sustaining H3K9me3 and CpG Methylation at Pluripotent Gene Promoters. Mus musculus

Through expression profiling and functional screening we have identified the large intergenic non-coding RNA p21 (lincRNA-p21) as a barrier for reprogramming. LincRNA-p21 is induced by p53 but contrary to its role in the DNA damage response it does not promote apoptosis or cell senescence in reprogramming. Instead, lincRNA-p21 associates with the H3K9 methyltransferase Setdb1 and the maintenance DNA methyltransferase Dnmt1 in separate complexes that are facilitated by the RNA binding protein hnRNP-K. Overall design: RNA-seq expression data during MEF to iPSC reprogramming using three shRNAs, targetting either luciferase (control), lincRNA-p21 and hnRNP-K. Days 6, 9 and 12 of the reprogramming timecourse were analyzed