Journal
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Volume 22, Issue 3, Pages 256-264Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2959
Keywords
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Funding
- National Basic Research Program of China [2011CBA01103, 2015CB943000]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [81171074, 91232702, 31471225, 81372215, 31301069, 11175068]
- Chinese Academy of Sciences [1731112304041, KJZD-EW-L01-2]
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China [WK2070000034]
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Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) have numerous roles in development and disease, and one of the prominent roles is to regulate gene expression. A vast number of circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been identified, and some have been shown to function as microRNA sponges in animal cells. Here, we report a class of circRNAs associated with RNA polymerase II in human cells. In these circRNAs, exons are circularized with introns 'retained' between exons; we term them exon-intron circRNAs or ElciRNAs. ElciRNAs predominantly localize in the nucleus, interact with U1 snRNP and promote transcription of their parental genes. Our findings reveal a new role for circRNAs in regulating gene expression in the nucleus, in which ElciRNAs enhance the expression of their parental genes in cis, and highlight a regulatory strategy for transcriptional control via specific RNA-RNA interaction between U1 snRNA and ElciRNAs.
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