Abstract
The transcription factor YY1 inhibits myogenesis by inducing the long intergenic noncoding RNA Yam-1, which in turn activates miRNA-715 expression in cis, a finding that expands the regulatory potential of lincRNAs.
EMBO J
32
:
2575
–
2588
doi: 10.1038/emboj.2013.182; published online
08
13
2013
Long noncoding RNAs are emerging as a critical component of transcriptional activation. Over the past few years, there has been a number of examples where long noncoding RNAs expressed from distal sites exert their activating functions on neighbouring protein-coding genes. A new study in
The EMBO Journal
(
Lu et al, 2013
) now extends this paradigm by revealing a role for the transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) in the regulation of the expression of long noncoding RNAs (termed Yams) during myogenesis. Importantly, the authors demonstrate a functional role for Yam-1 in muscle differentiation through activation of a neighbouring micoRNA-715 leading to downregulation of Wnt7b.
