Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2021
Publication Title
PLoS ONE
Department
Geisel School of Medicine
Abstract
Although many long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) exhibit lineage-specific expression, the vast majority remain functionally uncharacterized in the context of development. Here, we report the first described human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines to repress (CRISPRi) or activate (CRISPRa) transcription during differentiation into all three germ layers, facilitating the modulation of lncRNA expression during early development. We performed an unbiased, genome-wide CRISPRi screen targeting thousands of lncRNA loci expressed during endoderm differentiation. While dozens of lncRNA loci were required for proper differentiation, most differentially expressed lncRNAs were not, supporting the necessity for functional screening instead of relying solely on gene expression analyses. In parallel, we developed a clustering approach to infer mechanisms of action of lncRNA hits based on a variety of genomic features. We subsequently identified and validated FOXD3-AS1 as a functional lncRNA essential for pluripotency and differentiation. Taken together, the cell lines and methodology described herein can be adapted to discover and characterize novel regulators of differentiation into any lineage.
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0252848
Original Citation
Haswell JR, Mattioli K, Gerhardinger C, Maass PG, Foster DJ, et al. (2021) Genome-wide CRISPR interference screen identifies long non-coding RNA loci required for differentiation and pluripotency. PLOS ONE 16(11): e0252848. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252848
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
Haswell, Jeffrey R.; Mattioli, Kaia; Gerhardinger, Chiara; Maass, Philipp G.; Foster, Daniel J.; Peinado, Paola; Wang, Xiaofeng; Medina, Pedro P.; Rinn, John L.; and Slack, Frank J., "Genome-wide CRISPR interference screen identifies long non-coding RNA loci required for differentiation and pluripotency" (2021). Dartmouth Scholarship. 4206.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/4206