Abstract
Some RNAs in mammalian cells can help to silence the DNA they are transcribed from.
Highlights
It is found at repeated DNA sequences near the ends of chromosomes and at mobile DNA elements known as transposons, which are interspersed throughout the genome
Over the past two decades, studies in fission yeast, plants and various animals have identified a role for RNA molecules that do not encode proteins and proteins that bind to RNA in the recruitment of Suv39h enzymes to heterochromatin (Holoch and Moazed, 2015)
Many of these noncoding RNAs appear to be involved in a process known as RNA interference (RNAi), in which small RNA molecules reduce the activity of specific regions of DNA
Summary
In eLife, three independent studies report that RNAs bound to DNA near centromeres allow mammalian Suv39h enzymes to stay attached to heterochromatin for longer periods of time (Johnson et al, 2017; Shirai et al, 2017; Velazquez Camacho et al, 2017). Previous work has shown that the fission yeast homolog of the mammal Suv39h family can directly bind to RNA and DNA in cell-free systems through a region of the enzyme known as the chromodomain (Ishida et al, 2012).
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