Most long non-coding RNAs are exosome-sensitive!

In a paper recently published in Nature Communications, we devised a strategy to systematically categorize human RNAs by their sensitivity to the ribonucleolytic RNA exosome complex and by the nature of their transcription initiation. These measures were surprisingly effective at correctly classifying annotated transcripts, including lncRNAs of known function. It also showed that the majority of lncRNAs are unstable, but we could identify uncharacterized stable lncRNAs, hidden among the vast sea of unstable transcripts. This is an important inroad in the identification of functional lncRNAs.

Nuclear stability and transcriptional directionality separate functionally distinct RNA species Robin Andersson, Peter Refsing Andersen, Eivind Valen, Leighton J. Core, Jette Bornholdt, Mette Boyd, Torben Heick Jensen & Albin Sandelin

Nature Communications 5, Article number: 5336 doi:10.1038/ncomms6336