Genome-wide analysis of coordinate expression and evolution of human cis-encoded sense-antisense transcripts

Is sense-antisense (SA) pairing of transcripts a common mode of gene regulation in the human genome? Although >20% of human genes might form SA pairs, the extent to which they are involved in antisense regulation is unknown. Simultaneous expression of paired sense and antisense genes is an essential step and an important indicator of antisense regulation. In this article, we demonstrate that human SA pairs tend to be co-expressed and/or inversely expressed more frequently than expected by chance. Moreover, co-expressed and inversely expressed SA pairs exhibit a striking pattern of evolutionary conservation. These findings suggest that antisense regulation is a common and important mechanism of gene regulation in the human genome.