Ricerc@Sapienza

The transition from a dormant to a germinating seed represents a crucial developmental switch in the life cycle of a plant. Subsequent transition from a germinating seed to an autotrophic organism also requires a robust and multi-layered control. Seed germination and seedling growth are multistep processes, involving both internal and external signals, which lead to a fine-tuning control network.

Desideri et al. study the role of the chromatin-retained isoform of Charme, a lncRNA that regulates myogenesis. They find that a MATR3/PTBP1/pCharme assembly drives the retention and the function of the lncRNA. CRISPR-Cas9 deletion of pCharme intron-1 leads to the transcript delocalization and to heart defects in vivo.

Myogenesis is a highly regulated process that involves the conversion of progenitor cells into multinucleated myofibers. Besides proteins and miRNAs, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to participate in myogenic regulatory circuitries. Here, we characterize a murine chromatin-associated muscle-specific lncRNA, Charme, which contributes to the robustness of the myogenic program in vitro and in vivo. In myocytes, Charme depletion triggers the disassembly of a specific chromosomal domain and the downregulation of myogenic genes contained therein.