A novel lncRNA, GASL1, inhibits cell proliferation and restricts E2F1 activity.

The human genome encodes thousands of unique long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), many of which are emerging as critical regulators of cell fate. However, their functions as well as their transcriptional regulation are only partially understood. The E2F1 transcription factor induces both proliferation and apoptosis, and is a critical downstream target of the tumor suppressor, RB.