Recent advances in genome technologies have uncovered thousands of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) whose function in the immune system has been largely unexplored.  Members of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family activate an inducible program of inflammatory genes important in host defenses. Here we provide evidence that TLRs induce the expression of many lncRNAs.  One of these (lncRNA-Cox2) modulates the expression of hundreds of TLR2-inducible genes. Functional studies identified this lncRNA as capable of both activation and repression of distinct groups of TLR-induced genes. Transcriptional repression mediated by lncRNA-Cox2 requires heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein A/B and A2/B1, binding partners for lncRNA-Cox2. Collectively, these studies identify lncRNA-Cox2 as a broad-acting component of the regulatory circuit that controls the TLR-induced inflammatory response. SOURCE: Daniel Aiello (Daniel.Aiello@umassmed.edu) - Caffrey UMASS Medical School

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE40978: Long non-coding RNAs act as novel mediators of Innate Immunity