Reviewing the Roles of Long noncoding RNAs in Epigenetic Processes | EpiBeat

Although RNA has traditionally been thought to act primarily as an intermediate between DNA and protein in the central dogma of molecular biology, these important molecules have received more attention in the last few years for their ability to carry out a wide variety of biological processes, including epigenetic regulation of gene expression.  Recent studies suggest that nearly all of the mammalian genome is transcribed, and since most of the RNA does not have protein-coding potential, these noncoding RNAs likely have previously unknown functions.  Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been known to exist since the early 1990s and to have crucial roles in genomic imprinting and X-chromosome inactivation. Since then, numerous studies have suggested that there are several classes of lncRNAs and that they can act in number of different ways.  Dr. Jeannie Lee, an internationally recognized expert in the field of lncRNAs, has highlighted some important examples of how lncRNAs participate in X-chromosome inactivation and other key cellular processes and has nicely summarized the current understanding of the field in a recent review article that she wrote for Science.