title: Mechanisms of long range silencing by imprinted macro non-coding RNAs.
abstract: Non-coding (nc) RNA silencing of imprinted genes in extra-embryonic tissues provides a good model for understanding an underexamined aspect of gene regulation by macro or long ncRNAs, that is their action as long-range cis-silencers. Numerous long intergenic ncRNAs (lincRNAs) have been recently discovered that are thought to regulate gene expression, some of which have been associated with disease. The few shown to regulate protein-coding genes are suggested to act by targeting repressive or active chromatin marks. Correlative evidence also indicates that imprinted macro ncRNAs cause long-range cis-silencing in placenta by targeting repressive histone modifications to imprinted promoters. It is timely, however, to consider alternative explanations consistent with the published data, whereby transcription alone could cause gene silencing at a distance.
authors.affiliation: CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Science, Lazarettgasse 14, AKH-BT 25.3, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Florian M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Pauler
authors.forename: Denise P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Barlow
authors.forename: Quanah J
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Hudson
mesh_terms: D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D027701:Organic Cation Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010920:Placenta / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D034622:RNA Interference; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D000099254:Organic Cation Transporter 3
chemical_list: D006657:Histones; D027701:Organic Cation Transport Proteins; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D000099254:Organic Cation Transporter 3