Abstract
During the last decade, and mainly primed by major developments in high-throughput sequencing technologies, the catalogue of RNA molecules harbouring regulatory functions has increased at a steady pace. Current evidence indicates that hundreds of mammalian RNAs have regulatory roles at several levels, including transcription, translation/post-translation, chromatin structure, and nuclear architecture, thus suggesting that RNA molecules are indeed mighty controllers in the flow of biological information. Therefore, it is logical to suggest that there must exist a series of molecular systems that safeguard the faithful inheritance of RNA content throughout cell division and that those mechanisms must be tightly controlled to ensure the successful segregation of key molecules to the progeny. Interestingly, whilst a handful of integral components of mammalian cells seem to follow a general pattern of asymmetric inheritance throughout division, the fate of RNA molecules largely remains a mystery. Herein, we will discuss current concepts of asymmetric inheritance in a wide range of systems, including prions, proteins, and finally RNA molecules, to assess overall the biological impact of RNA inheritance in cellular plasticity and evolutionary fitness.
Highlights
Decades ago, the fundamental principles that govern DNA folding and DNA-based inheritance were proposed, and with their advent a scientific revolution began
Within a population of cells, it has been shown that there can be significant variation in both the extent to which cells exhibit plasticity, and the nature of the response to the same stimulus [177,178]. Since this variation can be seen in clonal populations of cells, it suggests that non-genetic components, such as organelles, proteins, and RNA molecules, have the ability to influence the plasticity of an individual cell
That asymmetric segregation of these cellular components could lead to differences in the plastic responses of daughter cells
Summary
The fundamental principles that govern DNA folding and DNA-based inheritance were proposed, and with their advent a scientific revolution began. An extreme example of the latter can be observed during stem cell division, where it is thought that the asymmetry generated by protein gradients polarizes cellular components, giving directionality to cell division, and generating daughter cells harbouring a rewired regulatory network [4,5,6,7] This process generates two genetically identical, but inherently different cells, the original stem cell and its differentiated counterpart that inherits a radically different intracellular environment. The asymmetric inheritance of cellular components seems to be the rule rather than the exception, as many cellular structures segregate asymmetrically PPhheennoottyyppiicchheetteerrooggeenneeitiytyininppooppuulaltaitoinosnsofogfegneenteictaicllaylliydiednetinctailcacel lcles.llIss.oIgsoegneicnpicoppouplautiloantisonofs coefllcsemllsaymdaiyspdlaisypdlaiyffedreifnfetrleenvtellseovfelnsoonf-gneonne-tgicenheettiecrohgeetnereoitgye. nTehiteys.e dTihffeesreendciefsfemreanyceressmulatyinrdesisutlitncint ldeivsetilns cotf lpeovpeluslaotfiopnofiptunleastsioanndfitsnuersvsivaanldcaspuarcvitiyvawl hceanpaecxiptyoswedheton heaxrpsohseendvtiroonhmaresnhtaelncvoinrodnitmioennst.al conditions
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