Phase separation of RNA-binding protein promotes polymerase binding and transcription.

An RNA-involved phase-separation model has been proposed for transcription control. However, the molecular links that connect RNA to the transcription machinery remain missing. Here we find that RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) constitute half of the chromatin proteome in embryonic stem cells (ESCs), some being colocalized with RNA polymerase (Pol) II at promoters and enhancers.

LIN28 coordinately promotes nucleolar/ribosomal functions and represses the 2C-like transcriptional program in pluripotent stem cells.

LIN28 is an RNA binding protein with important roles in early embryo development, stem cell differentiation/reprogramming, tumorigenesis and metabolism. Previous studies have focused mainly on its role in the cytosol where it interacts with Let-7 microRNA precursors or mRNAs, and few have addressed LIN28's role within the nucleus. Here, we show that LIN28 displays dynamic temporal and spatial expression during murine embryo development.

Homotypic clustering of L1 and B1/Alu repeats compartmentalizes the 3D genome.

Organization of the genome into euchromatin and heterochromatin appears to be evolutionarily conserved and relatively stable during lineage differentiation. In an effort to unravel the basic principle underlying genome folding, here we focus on the genome itself and report a fundamental role for L1 (LINE1 or LINE-1) and B1/Alu retrotransposons, the most abundant subclasses of repetitive sequences, in chromatin compartmentalization. We find that homotypic clustering of L1 and B1/Alu demarcates the genome into grossly exclusive domains, and characterizes and predicts Hi-C compartments.

Transcriptome-Wide Mapping of Protein-RNA Interactions.

RNA and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) control multiple biological processes. The spatial and temporal arrangement of RNAs and RBPs underlies the delicate regulation of these processes. The strategy called CLIP-seq (cross-linking and immunoprecipitation) has been developed to capture endogenous protein-RNA interactions with UV cross-linking followed by immunoprecipitation.

Transcriptome-Wide Profiling of Protein-RNA Interactions by Cross-Linking and Immunoprecipitation Mediated by FLAG-Biotin Tandem Purification.

RNA and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) control multiple biological processes. The spatial and temporal arrangement of RNAs and RBPs underlies the delicate regulation of these processes. A strategy called CLIP-seq (cross-linking and immunoprecipitation) has been developed to capture endogenous protein-RNA interactions with UV cross-linking followed by immunoprecipitation.

RNA Targets Ribogenesis Factor WDR43 to Chromatin for Transcription and Pluripotency Control.

Transcription regulation underlies stem cell function and development. Here, we elucidate an unexpected role of an essential ribogenesis factor, WDR43, as a chromatin-associated RNA-binding protein (RBP) and release factor in modulating the polymerase (Pol) II activity for pluripotency regulation. WDR43 binds prominently to promoter-associated noncoding/nascent RNAs, occupies thousands of gene promoters and enhancers, and interacts with the Pol II machinery in embryonic stem cells (ESCs).

Insight into novel RNA-binding activities via large-scale analysis of lncRNA-bound proteome and IDH1-bound transcriptome.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play pivotal roles in directing RNA fate and function. Yet the current annotation of RBPs is largely limited to proteins carrying known RNA-binding domains. To systematically reveal dynamic RNA-protein interactions, we surveyed the human proteome by a protein array-based approach and identified 671 proteins with RNA-binding activity.