Featured Long Noncoding RNA – ANRASSF1

RASSF1A is a tumor suppressor gene whose expression is repressed through epigenetic events in a wide range of different cancers. Repression is effected by DNA hypermethylation of the RASSF1A promoter, which in turn is triggered through histone H3K9/H3K27 trimethylation repressive marks. The addition of the H3K27me3 mark at the RASSF1A promoter locus involves the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). The molecular mechanisms that control the recruitment of PRC2 to the promoter to initiate H3K27 trimethylation and repress RASSF1A expression have not been described.

Here, researchers from the University of São Paulo, Brasil identified a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), termed ANRASSF1 for antisense noncoding RASSF1, that is transcribed from the opposite strand of the RASSF1A gene and is responsible for recruiting PRC2 to the RASSF1A promoter region in a highly location-specific manner. No effect of ANRASSF1 was detected on the promoter of the RASSF1C isoform or the promoters of the four other genes within the vicinity of RASSF1, including two other well-characterized tumor suppressor genes. This work provides evidence that the epigenetic modulation of the tumor suppressor gene RASSF1A is dependent on the lncRNA ANRASSF1 and highlights the importance of further studies on the involvement of ANRASSF1 in tumorigenesis.

• Beckedorff FC, Ayupe AC, Crocci-Souza R, Amaral MS, Nakaya HI, et al. (2013) The Intronic Long Noncoding RNA ANRASSF1 Recruits PRC2 to the RASSF1A Promoter, Reducing the Expression of RASSF1A and Increasing Cell Proliferation. PLoS Genet 9(8), e1003705. [article]