Noncoding RNAs, Emerging Regulators of Skeletal Muscle Development and Diseases

Figure 2

Functional mechanism of lncRNAs in skeletal muscle. (A) lncRNAs (in green) are able to positively or negatively regulate transcription at their own loci and at neighboring genes in cis by modulating transcriptional machinery or recruiting chromatin modification complexes. (B) Similarly, lncRNAs can also regulate a wide range of muscle gene expression in trans by recruiting chromatin modification enzymes and transcription machinery to their promoters. (C) lncRNAs can also regulate muscle gene mRNA splicing events by enlisting various splicing factors. (D) lncRNAs can serve as scaffolding for nuclear domains and/or long range chromosomal looping. (E) In cytosol, lncRNAs can serve as a miRNA sponge by competitively sequestering certain miRNA, thus inhibiting their effects on gene expression. (F) Recently, both SINE containing lncRNAs and H19 have been found to regulate mRNA decay by distinct mechanisms, therefore affecting muscle mRNA stability and regulating myogenesis.