Yin and yang of polycomb/trithorax response elements

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Leonie Ringrose (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Vienna, Austria) and her team set out to investigate the mechanisms by which PRE/TREs

switch between active and silent states, particularly in different developmental contexts, using the _Drosophila melanogaster vestigial_ (_vg_) locus. This locus harbours the _vg_ gene,

which is expressed in different cell types and at various developmental stages and is known to be regulated by PcG proteins, as well as a PRE/TRE that lies downstream of the gene. The

researchers found that the _vg_ PRE/TRE was transcribed into long non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) arising from both DNA strands. The transcripts were localized to the same tissues as the _vg_ mRNA,

but they exhibited highly dynamic developmental regulation: whereas in embryos both strands of the PRE/TRE were transcribed, in larval wing discs and brains, only transcripts from the

forward strand were found. Moreover, transcription of the PRE/TRE reverse strand correlated with _vg_ gene activation in embryos, whereas transcription of the element's forward strand

correlated with _vg_ gene repression in larvae. “We were very surprised to see the exquisite developmental and spatial regulation of the opposing ncRNAs, and the fact that this regulation

was recapitulated by transgenic reporters,” remembers Ringrose. “We envisage PRE/TRE switching as a collection of multiple cooperative mechanisms that stabilise each state, and that oppose

each other, and these RNAs are a new part of that very complex puzzle.” This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution

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Contact customer support REFERENCES * Herzog, V. A. et al. A strand-specific switch in noncoding transcription switches the function of a Polycomb/Trithorax response element. _Nature Genet._

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.3058 (2014) Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Chief Editor, Nature Reviews Genetics, Linda Koch Authors * Linda Koch View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RELATED LINKS RELATED LINKS RELATED LINKS IN NATURE RESEARCH Steffen, P. A. & Ringrose, L. What are memories

made of? How Polycomb and Trithorax proteins mediate epigenetic memory. _Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol._ 15, 340–356 (2014) RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

CITE THIS ARTICLE Koch, L. Yin and Yang of Polycomb/Trithorax response elements. _Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol_ 15, 630–631 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3868 Download citation * Published: 28

August 2014 * Issue Date: October 2014 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3868 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable

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