Project description:An adult P. rus colony was imported from Indonesia following the CITES protocols (Permit number 14846/IV/SATS-LN/2007) and kept in the Animal Facilities of the Justus Liebig University, Giessen. The colony was maintained in a circulating artificial seawater system at approximately 26 °C with 20-40 µmol photons m-2s-1 (T5 light) of photosynthetically active radiation on a 10:14 h light-dark cycle. A fragment of approx. 9 cm2 was separated from the colony and used as a source of tissue for hologenomic DNA/RNA isolation. Tissue was removed by scraping the fragment´s surface with a sterilized razor blade.
Project description:The evolution of brain complexity correlates with an increased expression of long, non-coding (lnc) RNAs in neuronal tissues. Although prominent examples illustrate the potential of lncRNAs to scaffold and target epigenetic regulators to chromatin loci, only few cases have been described to function during neurogenesis. We present a first functional characterization of the lncRNA LINC01322, which we term RUS for 'RNA upstream of Slitrk3'. The RUS gene is well conserved in mammals by sequence and synteny next to the neurodevelopmental gene Slitrk3. RUS is exclusively expressed in neural cells and its expression increases along with neuronal markers during neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic cortical neural stem cells. Depletion of RUS locks neuronal precursors in an intermediate state towards neuronal differentiation, with arrested cell cycle and increased apoptosis. RUS associates with chromatin in the vicinity of genes involved in neurogenesis, most of which change their expression upon RUS depletion. The identification of a range of epigenetic regulators as specific RUS interactors suggests that the lncRNA may mediate gene activation and repression in a highly context-dependent manner.
Project description:The evolution of brain complexity correlates with an increased expression of long, non-coding (lnc) RNAs in neuronal tissues. Although prominent examples illustrate the potential of lncRNAs to scaffold and target epigenetic regulators to chromatin loci, only few cases have been described to function during neurogenesis. We present a first functional characterization of the lncRNA LINC01322, which we term RUS for ‘RNA upstream of Slitrk3’. The RUS gene is well conserved in mammals by sequence and synteny next to the neurodevelopmental gene Slitrk3. RUS is exclusively expressed in neural cells and its expression increases along with neuronal markers during neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic cortical neural stem cells. Depletion of RUS locks neuronal precursors in an intermediate state towards neuronal differentiation, with arrested cell cycle and increased apoptosis. RUS associates with chromatin in the vicinity of genes involved in neurogenesis, most of which change their expression upon RUS depletion. The identification of a range of epigenetic regulators as specific RUS interactors suggests that the lncRNA may mediate gene activation and repression in a highly context-dependent manner.