iScience
Volume 23, Issue 7, 24 July 2020, 101291
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Article
The Contribution of lincRNAs at the Interface between Cell Cycle Regulation and Cell State Maintenance

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101291Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Genes differentially expressed between mESC cell cycle stages are enriched in lincRNAs

  • CC-lincRNAs are co-expressed with cell cycle and pluripotency genes

  • CC-lincRNAs are often mESC specific and their promoters enriched in pluripotency TFs

  • Upregulation of two CC-lincRNAs results in deregulated mESC cell cycle progression

Summary

Cell cycle progression is controlled by the interplay of established cell cycle regulators. Changes in these regulators' activity underpin differences in cell cycle kinetics between cell types. We investigated whether long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) contribute to embryonic stem cell cycle adaptations. Using single-cell RNA sequencing data for mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) staged as G1, S, or G2/M we found differentially expressed lincRNAs are enriched among cell cycle-regulated genes. These lincRNAs (CC-lincRNAs) are co-expressed with genes involved in cell cycle regulation. We tested the impact of two CC-lincRNA candidates and show using CRISPR activation that increasing their expression is associated with deregulated cell cycle progression. Interestingly, CC-lincRNAs are often differentially expressed between G1 and S, their promoters are enriched in pluripotency transcription factor (TF) binding sites, and their transcripts are frequently co-regulated with genes involved in the maintenance of pluripotency, suggesting a contribution of CC-lincRNAs to mESC cell cycle adaptations.

Subject Areas

Molecular Biology
Cell Biology

Cited by (0)

2

Present address: Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute, 75 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia

3

These authors contributed equally

4

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