title: Transgenerational functions of small RNA pathways in controlling gene expression in C. elegans.
abstract: RNA silencing processes use exogenous or endogenous RNA molecules to specifically and robustly regulate gene expression. In C. elegans, initial mechanistic descriptions of the different silencing processes focused on posttranscriptional regulation. In this review, we discuss recent work showing that, in this model organism, RNA silencing also controls the transcription of target genes by inducing heterochromatin formation. Specifically, it has been shown that ribonucleoprotein complexes containing small RNAs, either processed from exogenous dsRNA or synthesized from the genome itself, and proteins of the Argonaute family, mediate the deposition of repressive histone marks at the targeted loci. Interestingly, the accumulation of repressive marks is required for the inheritance of the silencing effect and the establishment of an epigenetic memory that discriminates self- from non-self-RNAs.
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon; CNRS; Molecular biology of the Cell Laboratory/UMR5239; Université Claude Bernard Lyon; Lyon, France; Master Biosciences; Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon; Université Claude Bernard Lyon; Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Guérin
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon; CNRS; Molecular biology of the Cell Laboratory/UMR5239; Université Claude Bernard Lyon; Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Palladino
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon; CNRS; Molecular biology of the Cell Laboratory/UMR5239; Université Claude Bernard Lyon; Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Valérie J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Robert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060565:Argonaute Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006570:Heterochromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D006570:Heterochromatin; D006657:Histones; C585329:NRDE-1 protein, C elegans; C550901:NRDE-2 protein, C elegans; C530516:NRDE-3 protein, C elegans; C585330:NRDE-4 protein, C elegans; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins
keywords: C. elegans; RNA interference; RNA-induced epigenetic silencing; histone modifications; small RNAs; transgenerational gene silencing