Recent investigations on the non-protein-coding transcriptome of human cells have revealed previously hidden layers of gene regulation relying on regulatory non-protein-coding (nc) RNAs, including the widespread ncRNA-dependent regulation of epigenetic chromatin states and of mRNA translation and stability. However, despite its centrality, the epigenetic regulation of ncRNA genes has received relatively little attention. In this mini-review, we attempt to provide a synthetic account of recent literature suggesting an unexpected complexity in chromatin-dependent regulation of ncRNA gene transcription by the three human nuclear RNA polymerases. Emerging common features, like the heterogeneity of chromatin states within ncRNA multigene families and their influence on 3D genome organization, point to unexplored issues whose investigation could lead to a better understanding of the whole human epigenomic network.
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Cover Image
Cover Image
The flower represents the Drosophila testis niche with the hub cells at the center. Each petal of the flower represents Germline stem cells (GSCs) with a large and a smaller purple circle representing centromere; green rays representing stronger centromeres preferentially attach to the niche. Red and green caterpillars represent sister chromatids in prometaphase with separable old and new H3 in GSCs. Further, large butterflies closer to the flower represent prometaphase GSCs with a red wing vs a green wing representing non-overlapping old and new H3. Small orange butterflies away from the flower represent prophase gonialblast cells with overlapping old and new H3 signals. The background is from coiled sperm from the fly testis. Cover art generated by Professor Tim Phelps.
Epigenetic regulation of human non-coding RNA gene transcription
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