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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Overexpressing Long Noncoding RNAs Using Gene-activating CRISPR
Published on: March 1, 2019
Genome-wide identification and characterization of long intergenic noncoding RNAs in the regenerative flatworm
Azali Azlan1, Mardani Abdul Halim1, Ghows Azzam1
1School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia; USM-RIKEN International Centre for Ageing Science (URICAS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
Abstract:
The free-living flatworm Macrostoma lignano (M. lignano) is an emerging model organism for aging and regeneration research. Long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) have important roles in many biological processes such as aging, stem cell maintenance and differentiation. However, to date, there is no systematic identification of lincRNAs in M. lignano. By using public RNA-seq data, we identified a total of 2547 lincRNA transcripts in M. lignano genome. We discovered that M. lignano lincRNAs shared many characteristics with other species such as shorter in length, lower GC content, and lower in expression compared to protein-coding genes. Unlike protein-coding genes, M. lignano lincRNAs showed higher tendency to be expressed in temporal and region-specific fashion. Additionally, co-expression network analysis and functional enrichment suggest that M. lignano lincRNAs have potential roles in regeneration. This study will provide important resources and pave the way for investigations on non-coding genes involved in aging and regeneration.
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