Cryptic introns in lncRNAs recruit conserved Pir2/ARS2 protein to promote gene repression [RNA-Seq]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) dynamically regulate gene expression during development and in response to environmental conditions. In S. pombe, lncRNAs repress the expression of nearby genes via a mechanism involving silencing effector proteins. In this study, we find that invasion of a lncRNA into the neighboring gene results in inclusion of a cryptic intron that is required for its repressive activity. We show that cryptic introns are targeted by the conserved protein Pir2/ARS2 in association with splicing factors, which provide a scaffold for the recruitment of RNA degradation factors and chromatin modifying activities. Overall design: RNA-seq of WT, pir2-1 mutant in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

长链非编码RNA（long non-coding RNAs，lncRNAs）可在生物体发育进程及环境应答过程中动态调控基因表达。在粟酒裂殖酵母（Schizosaccharomyces pombe，S. pombe）中，lncRNAs可通过涉及沉默效应蛋白的机制抑制邻近基因的表达。本研究发现，当lncRNA侵入邻近基因时，会导致该基因包含一个隐蔽内含子，而该内含子是其发挥抑制活性所必需的元件。本研究证实，隐蔽内含子可被保守蛋白Pir2/ARS2与剪接因子共同靶向，后者可为RNA降解因子及染色质修饰活性因子的招募提供支架。实验整体设计：针对粟酒裂殖酵母中的野生型（wild type，WT）及pir2-1突变体开展RNA测序（RNA-seq）实验。