The Long Non-coding RNA Cyrano Is Dispensable for Pluripotency of Murine and Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Pluripotency is tightly regulated and is crucial for stem cells and their implementation for regenerative medicine. Non-coding RNAs, especially long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) emerged as orchestrators of versatile (patho)-physiological processes on the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Cyrano, a well-conserved lncRNA, is highly expressed in stem cells suggesting an important role in pluripotency, which we aimed to investigate in loss-off-function (LOF) experiments. Cyrano was described previously to be essential for the maintenance of mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency. In contrast, using different genetic models, we here found Cyrano to be dispensable in murine and human iPSCs and in human ESCs. RNA sequencing revealed only a moderate influence of Cyrano on the global transcriptome. In line, Cyrano-depleted iPSCs retained the potential to differentiate into the three germ layers. In conclusion, different methods were applied for LOF studies to rule out potential off-target effects. These approaches revealed that Cyrano does not impact pluripotency.