Isolation and Functional Examination of the Long Non-Coding RNA Redrum

Here, we report isolation of multiple long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) expressed tissue-specifically during murine embryogenesis. One of these, subsequently came to be known as Redrum, is expressed in erythropoietic cells in fetal liver and adult bone marrow. Redrum transcription is also detected during pregnancy in the spleen where extramedullary hematopoiesis takes place. In order to examine the function of Redrum in vivo, we generated a gene-targeted murine model and analyzed its embryonic and adult erythropoiesis. The homozygous mutant embryo showed no apparent deficiency or defect in erythropoiesis. Adult erythropoiesis in bone marrow and in the spleen during pregnancy likewise showed no detectable phenotype as red blood cells matured in normal fashion. The phenotype is in contrast to the reported function of Redrum in vitro, and our observation implies that Redrum plays in vivo an accessory or supplementary role whose loss is compatible with normal erythropoiesis.