Long noncoding RNA: significance and potential in skin biology

Abstract

Over the past few years, advances in genome analyses have identified an emerging class of noncoding RNAs that play critical roles in the regulation of gene expression and epigenetic reprogramming. Given their transcriptional pervasiveness, the potential for these intriguing macromolecules to integrate a myriad of external cellular cues with nuclear responses has become increasingly apparent. Recent studies have implicated noncoding RNAs in epidermal development and keratinocyte differentiation, but the complexity of multilevel regulation of transcriptional programs involved in these processes remains ill defined. In this review, we discuss the relevance of noncoding RNA in normal skin development, their involvement in cutaneous malignancies, and their role in the regulation of adult stem-cell maintenance in stratified epithelial tissues. Furthermore, we provide additional examples highlighting the ubiquity of noncoding RNAs in diverse human diseases.

Figure 1.

Functional schematic of lncRNAs. lncRNAs may function by partnering with small molecule regulators and/or mediators (such as transcription factors, chromatin modification enzymes, or DNA-binding proteins) or by stabilizing RNAs through posttranscriptional mechanisms to bring about gene expression changes via histone modifications and chromatin folding. This ultimately results in downstream regulation of disparate processes including tumorigenesis, embryonic development, wound healing, and cellular differentiation.