Endogenous Retrovirus-Derived lncRNA BANCR Promotes Cardiomyocyte Migration in Humans and Non-human Primates.

ABSTRACT: Transposable elements (TEs) comprise nearly half of the human genome and are often transcribed or exhibit cis-regulatory properties with unknown function in specific processes such as heart development. In the case of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), a TE subclass, experimental interrogation is constrained as many are primate-specific or human-specific. Here, we use primate pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes that mimic fetal cardiomyocytes in vitro to discover hundreds of ERV transcripts from the primate-specific MER41 family, some of which are regulated by the cardiogenic transcription factor TBX5. The most significant of these are located within BANCR, a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) exclusively expressed in primate fetal cardiomyocytes. Functional studies reveal that BANCR promo

SUBMITTER: Wilson KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7529962 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature