All-Trans Retinoic Acid Induces Expression of a Novel Intergenic Long Noncoding RNA in Adult rat Primary Hippocampal Neurons.

Around 90% of the mammalian genome undergoes pervasive transcription into various types of small and long regulatory noncoding RNAs, whereas only ∼ 1.5% codes for proteins. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) constitute diverse classes of sense- and antisense transcripts that are abundantly expressed in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) in cell type- and developmental stage-specific manners. They are implicated in brain development, differentiation, neuronal plasticity, and other cognitive functions. Mammalian brain requires the vitamin A metabolite all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) for its normal development, differentiation, and cell-fate determination. However, its role in adult brain function is less understood. Here, we report atRA-mediated transcriptional upregulation of endogenous expression of a novel long intergenic noncoding RNA-rat brain expressed (LINC-RBE) in cultured primary hippocampal neurons from adult rat. We have previously reported LINC-RBE as an intergenic, simple repeat sequence containing lncRNA highly expressed in the rat brain. This is a first-time report of involvement of atRA in transcriptional upregulation of lncRNA expression in rat hippocampal neurons. Therefore, it may be involved in regulation of brain function and disease.