Non-coding RNA is essential for normal embryonic
cardiogenesis
Many different tissues and organs form from pluripotent stem
cells during embryonic development. To date it had been known that these
processes are controlled by transcription factors for specific tissues.
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, in
collaboration with colleagues at MIT and the Broad Institute in Boston, have now
been able to demonstrate that RNA molecules, which do not act as templates for
protein synthesis, participate in these processes as well. The scientists
knocked down a gene for long non-coding RNA molecules (lncRNA) and thereby
disrupted the development of the heart to an extent that was lethal to the
embryos. Genesis of the ventral body wall was also impaired. It became apparent
that the lncRNA participates in controlling transcription factors that
themselves are responsible for controlling tissue- and organogenesis. The
lncRNA itself thus acts as a modulating factor in these processes.