Small RNAs in transcriptional gene silencing and genome defence.
Small RNA molecules of about 20-30 nucleotides have emerged as powerful regulators of gene expression and genome stability. Studies in fission yeast and multicellular organisms suggest that effector complexes, directed by small RNAs, target nascent chromatin-bound non-coding RNAs and recruit chromatin-modifying complexes. Interactions between small RNAs and nascent non-coding transcripts thus reveal a new mechanism for targeting chromatin-modifying complexes to specific chromosome regions and suggest possibilities for how the resultant chromatin states may be inherited during the process of chromosome duplication.
Moazed
Danesh
D
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. danesh_moazed@hms.harvard.edu
D000818:Animals; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D020868:Gene Silencing / Q000502:physiology*; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
D002843:Chromatin; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering