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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
10:28
Repressing Gene Transcription by Redirecting Cellular Machinery with Chemical Epigenetic Modifiers
Published on: September 20, 2018
Control of cryptic transcription in eukaryotes.
Mathieu Rougemaille1, Domenico Libri
1LEA Laboratory of Nuclear RNA Metabolism, Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS-UPR2167, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. rougemai@cgm.cnrs-gif.fr
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
|May 31, 2011
Summary
New small RNA species in eukaryotic genomes, once thought to be transcriptional noise, may regulate gene expression and genome evolution. These non-coding transcripts are key to understanding complex transcriptional control.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Genomics
- Transcriptomics
Background:
- Large-scale technologies have revealed a complex eukaryotic transcriptome with novel small RNA species.
- These small RNAs originate from previously transcriptionally silent regions and lack coding potential.
- Initially considered by-products, these RNAs are now implicated in regulatory roles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances in understanding the eukaryotic transcriptome.
- To explore cellular mechanisms preventing cryptic transcript interference with protein-coding genes.
- To summarize evidence for the role of these RNAs in gene regulation and genome evolution.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent scientific literature.
- Analysis of data from various biological systems.
- Focus on molecular mechanisms of transcriptional control.
Main Results:
- Discovery of numerous small RNA species in previously non-transcribed genomic regions.
- Identification of exosome-mediated degradation pathways for these transcripts.
- Emerging evidence suggests these RNAs are by-products of regulatory transcription.
Conclusions:
- A significant fraction of newly discovered small RNAs are by-products of regulatory transcription.
- Cells possess mechanisms to prevent cryptic transcripts from disrupting protein-coding gene expression.
- These small RNAs play critical roles in gene expression regulation and genome evolution.
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