Most of the human genome can be transcribed into RNAs, but only a minority of these regions produce protein-coding mRNAs whereas the remaining regions are transcribed into noncoding RNAs. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were known for their influential regulatory roles in multiple biological processes such as imprinting, dosage compensation, transcriptional regulation, and splicing. The physiological functions of protein-coding genes have been extensively characterized through genome editing in pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in the past 30 years; however, the study of lncRNAs with genome editing technologies only came into attentions in recent years. Here, we summarize recent advancements in dissecting the roles of lncRNAs with genome editing technologies in PSCs and highlight potential genome editing tools useful for examining the functions of lncRNAs in PSCs.
Nankai UniversityNational Thousand Young Talents ProgramNational Natural Science Foundation of China31671352Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City15JCZDJC656001. Introduction: Discovery of lncRNAs Expressed in Pluripotent Stem Cells
Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) can unlimitedly self-renew and differentiate into specialized cell types of all three germ layers. Therefore, they have been used as an important in vitro model system for studying early development and generating an in vivo genome-edited animal model to analyze the physiological functions of a gene. Furthermore, they were used as a cell source for regenerative medicine to treat macular degeneration recently [1]. The two most frequently used types of PSCs are embryonic stem cells (ESCs), which are derived from inner cell mass of blastocyst, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are established from somatic cells through reprogramming.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are >200 bp long RNA transcripts that lack coding capacity. Most of lncRNAs have evolved rapidly during evolution while a minority of lncRNAs are conserved through species [2]. The rapid evolution of lncRNAs could be partially explained by the presence of transposable elements in lncRNAs, since TEs are major contributors of lncRNA origination and diversification [3]. In the past two decades, expression arrays were first applied to identify novel lncRNAs [4–6]. Later, ENCODE Project Consortium and FANTOM Consortium used a high-throughput sequencing (HTS) method to identify novel transcripts from a genome [7, 8]. Currently, there are ~87,774 lncRNAs discovered in mouse cells and ~96,308 lncRNAs in human cells according to the NONCODE database [9]. Databases of lncRNAs have been established to catalogue novel lncRNAs and their functions (Table 1) [10, 11]. Given the importance of PSCs, further cataloguing of lncRNAs is essential for us to understand the complex regulatory network in PSCs. With the advancement of HTS technologies, ChIP-seq experiments revealed histone modifications as markers of gene transcription units. H3K4me3 was found to be a marker of promoter whereas H3K36me3 marked the gene body [12–14]. Therefore, H3K4me3 in combination with H3K36me3 could define the location of a transcribed gene [15]. With the application of histone marks to recognize discrete transcriptional units between protein-coding genes, the first genome-wide discovery of long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) was carried out in four cell types including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) [15]. The same study found that core pluripotency regulators Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog have driven the expression of lincRNAs, which in turn regulated the proliferation of ESCs [15]. These findings suggest lincRNAs as critical regulators in ESCs. Most of the discovered lncRNAs are functional [16]. They could participate in the regulation of multiple cellular processes such as transcription, RNA splicing, and translation regulation (Table 2) [17–19]. However, their exact roles in PSCs were mostly uncharacterized. Genome editing methods have been used extensively in probing the functions of protein-coding genes. It is a golden standard to demonstrate the role of a gene. However, the genome editing based on homologous recombination is inefficient, especially in human PSCs [20–23]. The introduction of molecular scissors, like the zinc finger nuclease (ZFN), transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR/Cas9) systems, into this field allowed highly efficient genome editing in PSCs and other cell types [24–28]. These recent advances of genome editing technologies permit their more efficient and extensive usage in the analysis of lncRNA functions in PSCs. In this work, we review previous research into classic lncRNAs with genome editing and summarize the recent achievements in studying lncRNAs through novel genome editing technologies in PSCs.
Introduction of different lncRNA databases.
Name
Date
Species
Function
Website
Ref.
Comprehensive annotations of lncRNAs
NONCODE
2005
17 species
Gene function annotation
http://www.noncode.org/
[9]
lncRNAdb
2011
68 species
Comprehensive annotations of functional lncRNAs
http://www.lncrnadb.org/
[29]
lncRNome
2013
Human
Integrating annotations on a wide variety of biologically significant information
http://genome.igib.res.in/lncRNome/
[30]
lncRNAtor
2014
6 species
Functional investigation of lncRNAs
http://lncrnator.ewha.ac.kr/
[31]
LncRNAWiki
2015
Human
Comprehensive integration of information on human lncRNAs
http://lncrna.big.ac.cn
[32]
Annotation of lncRNA interactions
LNCipedia
2013
Human
Annotation of lncRNA transcript sequences and structures
https://www.lncipedia.org
[33]
Linc2GO
2013
Human
lincRNA function annotation based on ceRNA hypothesis
–
[34]
Starbase
2014
Human, mouse, and C. elegans
Annotation of miRNA-lncRNA/mRNA interactions
–
[35]
NPInter
2014
18 species
Interactions between ncRNAs and biomolecules
http://www.bioinfo.org/NPInter
[36]
lncACTdb
2015
Human
lncRNA-miRNA-gene interactions
–
[37]
Transcriptional regulatory networks of lncRNAs
ChIPBase
2013
6 species
Transcriptional regulatory networks of ncRNAs and PCGs
–
[38]
SNP@lincTFBS
2014
Human
Annotation of SNPs in potential TFBSs of lincRNAs
http://bioinfo.hrbmu.edu.cn/SNP_lincTFBS
[39]
TF2LncRNA
2014
Human
Identifying common transcription factors of lncRNAs
–
[40]
lncRNA-associated pathways
LncReg
2015
Human and mouse
lncRNA-associated regulatory networks
http://bioinformatics.ustc.edu.cn/lncreg/
[41]
Co-LncRNA
2015
Human
Investigating the lncRNA combinatorial effects in GO annotations and KEGG pathways
http://www.bio-bigdata.com/Co-LncRNA//lncreg/
[42]
lncRNA-disease associations
C-It-Loci
2015
Human, mouse, and zebrafish
Tissue-specific lncRNAs
http://c-it-loci.uni-frankfurt.de
[43]
LncRNADisease
2013
Human
lncRNA-disease associations
–
[44]
lnCaNet
2016
Human
lncRNA-cancer gene coexpression network
http://lncanet.bioinfo-minzhao.org/
[45]
Lnc2Cancer
2016
Human
Exploring lncRNA deregulation in various cancers
http://www.bio-bigdata.net/lnc2cancer
[46]
Classification of lncRNA functional mechanisms and the location of lncRNAs.
Mechanism of function
Examples
Ref.
Nucleus
Regulating chromatin-modifying complexes
ANRIL
[47]
HOTAIR
[48]
Recruiting transcription factors
HERVH
[17]
PWR1
[49]
TUNA
[50]
Chromatin remodeling
HOTTIP
[51]
SRG1
[52]
fbp1 ncRNA
[53]
Influencing pre-mRNA splicing
MALAT1
[18]
EGFR-AS1
[54]
Cytoplasm
Regulating mRNA stability
Linc-RoR
[55]
Gadd7
[56]
MEG3
[57]
Regulating mRNA translation
lincRNA-p21
[19]
Antisense Uchl1
[58]
Competing for microRNA binding
HPAT5
[59]
HULC
[60]
Translated in biologically active small peptides
LINC00961
[61]
2. Knockout lncRNAs in PSCs
The general strategy to study lncRNAs in PSCs is RNA interference (RNAi) mediated by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) or small interference RNA (siRNA). However, RNAi is unsuitable for a loss-of-function study of many lncRNAs. For instance, lncRNAs whose molecular functions are independent of the transcript, that is, the function of these lncRNAs, are from the transcription itself and not from the product of transcription. In addition, some lncRNAs, such as MALAT1, are highly abundant in the nucleus, so RNAi is inefficient in the depletion of these transcripts [62]. To study the physiological relevance of lncRNAs, their knockouts in ESCs or embryos are required to produce homozygous knockout animals. Therefore, it is critical to use genome editing for the loss-of-function study of lncRNAs in these cases to achieve the cleanest depletion of their expression.
2.1. Potential Challenges in the Generation of lncRNA Knockouts
Molecular scissors have been used to create point mutations in the critical domains of protein-coding genes and in turn induce an early termination of translation to knock out a gene. Different from protein-coding genes, the functional domains of transcripts are still unclear for most lncRNAs; therefore, it is impossible to study lncRNAs by loss-of-function point mutagenesis. Thus, to knock out a lncRNA, complete or partial deletion of the lncRNA gene is required. To avoid indirect influences from lncRNA knockout, we need to manipulate lncRNA genomic loci without affecting the genomic features of other genes. However, under some circumstances, this is difficult to achieve. For lncRNAs that are located at the promoter region of other genes or overlap with exons of protein-coding genes (Figures 1(a) and 1(b)), partial deletion of them by genome editing should only be applied under the circumstances that the expression of other genes remains unaffected. For lncRNAs within the intron of the protein-coding gene, the deletion of lncRNA genes without disturbing the splicing of the intron region is required (Figure 1(c)). The lncRNAs at the intergenic region (Figure 1(d)), which are distant from other genes, could be easily removed by genome editing technology in a similar manner with protein-coding genes. However, intergenic lncRNA loci which overlap with enhancers (Figure 1(e)), such as enhancer RNAs, are also difficult to study with genome editing, because the deletion of these loci may interfere with the functions of enhancers and affect the expression of distant genes [63]. Therefore, in this section, we will discuss the knockouts of intergenic lncRNAs that do not overlap with enhancers.
Location of lncRNAs on a human or mouse genome. (a) The lncRNA gene overlaps with the promoter of the protein-coding gene. (b) The lncRNA gene overlaps with exons of the protein-coding gene. (c) The lncRNA gene overlaps with the intron of the protein-coding gene. (d) The lncRNA gene is located between protein-coding genes. (e) lncRNAs, such as enhancer RNA, overlap with the enhancer region.
2.2. Deletion of the lncRNA Gene
Whole-gene ablation of lncRNAs is a classic way to learn their functions (Figure 2(a)). Initial work on lncRNA knockouts was done in mouse ESCs but not in human ESCs, because of its early establishment and ease to be manipulated by homologous recombination [64]. ESCs have been used as a model to study imprinting, which occurs during ESC differentiation [65]. One of the first lncRNAs that have been identified and knocked out in mouse ESCs is the lncRNA H19. The homologous recombination-mediated deletion of maternal H19 and its flanking sequences resulted in the expression activation of the imprinting gene Igf2, whereas the deletion of the paternal copy of H19 has no impact on Igf2 expression [66], suggesting H19 as a lncRNA regulating maternal Igf2 imprinting. The lncRNA Terc, a 397 bp RNA component of the telomerase complex, is another primary example of lncRNA knockout [67–69]. Ablation of the Terc lncRNA gene resulted in telomere shortening, which subsequently affected chromosome stability and proliferation of mouse ESCs [70, 71]. To improve the gene targeting efficiency, molecular scissors were introduced to engineer lncRNAs in PSCs. ZFNs were used in combination with homologous recombination to delete the highly expressed lncRNA MALAT1 in mouse ESCs. From MALAT1-knockout ESCs, homozygous MALAT1-deleted mice have been generated [62]. TALEN was also used to knock out lncRNAs in zebrafish [72]. With the emergence of the CRISPR/gRNA system, the efficiency of genome editing is higher than before. It was demonstrated that double gRNAs could be applied to efficiently knock out lncRNAs in human cell lines [73]. Using the CRISRP/gRNA system, a full-length lncRNA (HPAT5) was successfully knocked out in human ESCs for the first time [59]. Recently, it is possible to delete the whole H19 transcription unit and imprinting control region (ICR) by the CRISPR/Cas9 system in ESCs [74, 75]. This successfully restored Igf2 expression and faithfully improved the efficiency to generate viable mice from androgenetic zygote and haploid ESCs [74, 75]. These studies demonstrate the complete deletion of lncRNAs through genome editing as an efficient way to discover lncRNA function in ESCs and during differentiation.
Application of the lncRNA knockout in PSCs. The lncRNA gene knockout can be done through (a) knocking out the whole lncRNA gene from the genome, (b) knocking out part of the lncRNA gene, (c) knocking out the lncRNA promoter region, and (d) inserting poly(A) signal (pA) after the transcription start site. (e) Application of genome editing to study lncRNA functions in ESCs. (f) Application of genome editing in ESC to generate lncRNA-knockout mice.
Certain lncRNAs are extremely long, so it is difficult to delete a full-length lncRNA gene. In these cases, partial deletion of the lncRNA gene through homologous recombination can be applied for the loss-of-function study (Figure 2(b)). The lncRNA Xist, discovered in the last century, was knocked out in this strategy. Xist, an ~18 kb lncRNA located on the X chromosome, functions as a central regulator of gene dosage compensation during ESC differentiation [76, 77]. Homologous recombination strategy was employed to delete part (~7 kb) of Xist in mouse ESCs [78], but the knockout efficiency is extremely low. More than 2500 clones were screened to identify a single homozygous knockout clone. Through this approach, Xist was found to be required for complete X chromosome inactivation during ESC differentiation [76, 77]. Heterogeneous knockout of Xist revealed a critical role of Xist for female embryo development [79]. Partial deletion of lncRNAs could also facilitate us to determine the function of RNA domains in lncRNAs. Through homologous recombination-mediated knockout in ESCs, an 890 bp region of the imprinting-related lncRNA KCNQ1OT1 was found to be essential for KCNQ1OT1 to recruit Dnmt1 protein to paternal differentially methylated regions [80, 81]. With the appearance of genome editing technology, megabase-scale genetic deletions with ZFN [82], TALEN [83, 84], or CRISPR [85] are achievable. The power of CRISPR technology in generating knockout of lncRNAs was demonstrated by the deletion of the lncRNA Rian in ESCs. A pair of sgRNAs in combination with CRISPR could delete 23 kb of the 57 kb Rian through zygote injection [86]. In addition, the knockout efficiency reached 33% if multiple sgRNAs were used [86]. This technology advancement may facilitate us to delete full-length extremely large lncRNAs in PSCs.
With the discovery of more lncRNAs and further understanding of lncRNAs’ functions, the homologous recombination-based knockout of lncRNAs has been more extensively applied to delete lncRNAs in PSCs. In one of the studies, 18 lncRNA genes were knocked out in mouse ESCs to produce lncRNA-knockout mice [87]. The replacement of the lncRNA locus with the lacZ reporter allowed the visualization of the temporal and spatial expression pattern of these lncRNAs in animal models. Another similar study created knockout ESC lines for 20 lncRNAs through gene targeting and used these ESCs to create knockout mice for studying the broad roles of lncRNAs in mice [88]. These lncRNA-knockout mice constitute valuable complements to the resource for studying the physiological roles of lncRNAs.
2.3. Knocking In Polyadenylation Signal
Another strategy to prevent lncRNA transcript production is the knockin of polyadenylation (polyA) signal at the transcription start sites (TSS) (Figure 2(d)). Biallelic insertion of one copy or multiple copies of polyA signal at the beginning of lncRNA gene TSS will cause early termination of transcription and the subsequent failure of lncRNA production [89]. However, for lncRNAs with alternative promoters and transcription TSS, this strategy may not be applicable. This strategy was employed in ESCs to characterize the functions of the lncRNA Fendrr in embryo development [90, 91]. PolyA insertion-mediated Fendrr knockout led to malfunctioned heart and embryonic death by E13.75 in mice, while overexpression of Fendrr through BAC rescued the phenotype. Moreover, this method prevents lncRNA production without disturbing the transcription activity itself. Hence, this approach allows the distinguishment of the function of the lncRNA itself from that of its genomic transcription activity. This is exemplified by the case of the imprinting lncRNA Airn. The Airn gene overlaps with Igf2r promoter regions and is transcribed in the opposite direction of Igr2r [92]. The Airn gene spans more than 100 kb of the mouse genome and encodes multiple spliced isoforms [92]. Expression of Airn on paternal allele represses the paternal expression of Igf2r, Slc22a3, and Slc22a2 during ESC differentiation [92, 93]. Surprisingly, truncation of Airn by insertion of polyA signals after TSS did not affect Igf2r gene expression [94]. In addition, the overlapped transcription at the Airn promoter region is sufficient to repress Igf2r after ESC differentiation [94]. Furthermore, the Airn gene is very large (>100 kb) and may be difficult to knock out. This study also demonstrates that polyA signal could be a more efficient way to prevent expression of macro lncRNA genes than whole-gene deletion.
2.4. Deletion of the lncRNA Promoter
Promoters of lncRNAs are critical to drive their expression. For intergenic lncRNAs, another strategy to disrupt their expression relied on the removal of the lncRNA promoter by genome editing (Figure 2(c)). With two gRNAs expressed simultaneously, the promoter of lncRNAs could be efficiently deleted to achieve silencing of lncRNA expression [95]. One example is from the classic lncRNA H19, whose knockout allows the derivation of bimaternal mice [96, 97]. Similar to H19 knockout, deletion of DMRs of lncRNAs H19 and Gtl2 in haploid ESCs by CRISPR represses H19 and Gtl2 expression and allows the generation of semicloned mice from haploid ESCs [16]. These suggest the deletion of the lncRNA promoter region as an efficient approach to silence lncRNA expression in PSCs.
2.5. Combination of Different lncRNA Knockout Methods
The above examples show that a single approach is insufficient to identify the all possible functions of lncRNAs. Multiple genome editing strategies need to be taken in order to discover the functions of lncRNAs and their transcription locus in PSCs. This is well demonstrated in the study of Haunt lncRNAs in ESCs. Yin et al. found that siRNA mediated Haunt lncRNA depletion and deleting a small fraction of the Haunt gene caused a consistent further increment in HOXA expression upon retinoic acid- (RA-) induced ESC differentiation [63]. However, large deletions of the Haunt gene ranging from 7.3 kb to 58 kb caused an opposite effect. Disruption of Haunt expression by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of 2.3 kb of the Haunt promoter region or insertion of 4 × polyA signal after transcription start sites also leads to enhanced activation of HoxA cluster genes after ESC differentiation. These observations demonstrate distinct roles of lncRNAs and their corresponding genomic locus in regulating RA-induced HOXA expression. Moreover, this study also implicates that the role of lncRNAs should be examined in different aspects and multiple approaches to reveal the functions of the lncRNA gene locus and its transcripts in PSCs (Figures 2(e) and 2(f)).
3. lncRNA Reporter Gene in PSCs
Creation of the lncRNA reporter gene in PSCs allows us to track lncRNA expression in vivo and study the regulation of lncRNAs. In order to create reporter genes of lncRNAs, the differences between lncRNAs and protein-coding genes have to be considered. Unlike protein-coding genes, lncRNAs do not encode proteins. For this reason, it is impossible to make fluorescent fusion proteins through addition of self-cleaving 2A peptide or introduction of internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) to create the lncRNA reporter gene. The addition of protein-coding gene sequences to lncRNAs may interfere the localization and function of lncRNAs, whereas the inclusion of IRES sequence may lead to the recruitment of ribosomes to lncRNAs and conversion of lncRNAs to mRNAs. Therefore, the creation of lncRNA promoter-driven reporters requires genome editing of lncRNAs by knocking in the lncRNA locus or introducing an independently expressed transgene to the genome (Figures 3(a) and 3(b)). However, knocking in the reporter gene to the lncRNA locus will destroy one copy of the lncRNA gene and affect the expression of neighboring genes if the lncRNA acts in cis. Introduction of the lncRNA promoter-driven transgenic reporter may not reflect the true expression pattern of lncRNAs because the usage of enhancers and silencers is different at distinct genomic loci. All these situations need to be considered prior to the establishment of the lncRNA reporter PSC cell line.
Application of the lncRNA reporter gene in PSCs. Generation of lncRNA reporter genes can be achieved by (a) knocking in the reporter gene to the lncRNA locus and (b) introducing the lncRNA promoter-driven reporter gene. Application of the lncRNA reporter gene in (c) driving the expression of the transgene (such as the Rosa26 locus). (d) Monitoring the allele-specific gene expression. (e) Isolation of naive ESCs (red dot) (such as the ESRG promoter- or LTR7Y-driven transgene).
The earliest application of the lncRNA reporter in PSCs is to express foreign genes at the lncRNA transcription locus. A primary instance is the Rosa26 locus, which is used to constitutively overexpress genes for ~20 years. The Rosa26 locus was first discovered in 1991 during gene trapping in ESCs [98]. Later, it was found to encode two nuclear transcripts with no significant open reading frames (ORFs), suggesting them as lncRNAs [99]. Interrupting this locus with the proviral beta geo reporter gene led to ubiquitous expression of beta-galactosidase, suggesting that the Rosa26 locus encodes universally expressed lncRNAs in mice [99]. Since then, the Rosa26 locus has been used as a genetic safe harbor for gene knockin to achieve ubiquitous transgene expression [100, 101] (Figure 3(c)). Nowadays, the human Rosa26 locus was also discovered, and numerous genes have been knocked in the Rosa26 locus in ESCs to generate knockin mice and study the function of these genes [101, 102].
lncRNAs are involved in the essential gene regulatory processes during development. The reporter system of lncRNAs is also used to monitor the regulatory status of important biological processes in ESCs and during differentiation. One instance is using the paternal H19 reporter gene to monitor imprinting status during ESC differentiation. Since H19 expression is essential to maternal imprinting, to avoid the interruption of the H19 gene, the transgene carrying H19 promoter-driven lacZ and PLAP was used as the reporter to reflect the change of imprinting status [103] (Figure 3(d)). Using this reporter system, 1.1 kb control element was discovered to regulate maternal H19 imprinting [103]. A recent example of the application of the lncRNA reporter is to isolate naive human ESCs. Endogenous retrovirus HERVH was discovered as ESC-specific lncRNAs that regulate pluripotency [17]. The HERVH promoter (LTR7Y) is active only in cells from inner cell mass of blastocyst. Thus, the transgenic LTR7Y-driven GFP reporter can be used for the isolation of naive-state human ESCs [104] (Figure 3(e)). It was also found that the reporter gene driven by the promoter of the HERVH-derived lncRNA ESRG marked naive human ESCs [105] (Figure 3(e)). All preceding examples demonstrate the power of lncRNA reporter genes in studying the regulation of lncRNAs and tracking their expression.
4. Activation and Repression of lncRNAs with Genome Editing Technologies
Since CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing technology could efficiently delete large fragments of the genome [86], it has been utilized to perform genome-wide screening of lncRNA functions [106]. Multiple gRNAs were used against one single lncRNA to accomplish efficient ablation of the lncRNA gene expression; therefore, the paired gRNA library could only target a few hundreds of lncRNAs [106]. Using this approach, lncRNAs critical to cancer cell survival have been identified. An alternative approach to modulate lncRNAs with CRISPR-Cas9 is through CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) [107], which is constituted of deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) fused with transcription repressors, such as KRAB. Through the recruitment of dCas9-KRAB to the promoter regions of lncRNAs with multiple gRNAs, the expression of lncRNAs is hindered by the transcription repressors recruited by KRAB protein (Figure 4(a)). CRISPRi was applied to manipulate lncRNA (GAS5, H19, MALAT1, NEAT1, TERC, and XIST) expression in K562 cells [108]. In addition to these lncRNAs, CRISPRi was applied to probe the function of the cheRNA HIDALGO in K562 and H1 human ESCs [109]. This was adapted at a genome-wide scale to perform lncRNA repression screen in various cell types including human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) [110]. In this way, a number of lncRNAs were discovered as self-renewal regulators of human iPSCs [110]. The efficiency of genome editing is regulated by the epigenetic status of chromatin, such as chromatin conformation. The genome editing efficiency with TALEN and CRISPR is higher for genes at euchromatin than at heterochromatin [111]. This may introduce bias to genome-scale CRISPR-mediated screening of gene expression regulators.
Potential applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to study lncRNAs in PSCs. Application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology in the (a) repression of lncRNA transcription, (b) activation of lncRNA expression, (c) recruitment of the lncRNA to chromatin, and (d) isolation of the lncRNA-protein complex. (e) Degradation of the lncRNA. (f) Monitoring lncRNA localization. Green strand: gRNA.
Modified CRISPR is applicable not only for depleting gene expression but also for activating gene expression. CRISPR activation (CRISPRa), which utilizes dCas9 fused with multiple copies of strong viral transcription activators such as VP16, activates gene expression by bringing RNA polymerase II to TSS [107, 112]. This method can be adopted to activate lncRNA expression in ESCs (Figure 4(b)). Traditionally, in terms of the gain-of-function study of lncRNAs, plasmid- or transgene-based overexpression of lncRNAs was used. However, different from protein-coding genes, some lncRNAs function during transcription, that is, the production of transcript [63, 94]. Therefore, exogenous expression of lncRNAs may not reflect the genuine function of lncRNAs. In addition, multiple isoforms are present for some lncRNAs [94]. It is difficult to overexpress all isoforms at the same time. What is more, for some lncRNAs that lack polyA tail or are derived from introns [113], it is important to clone the fraction longer than its expression region. Moreover, for the lncRNA acting in cis, introduction of the lncRNA transgene to other genomic locations for overexpression cannot reflect the true function of lncRNAs. Above difficulties in lncRNA overexpression could be conquered by the usage of CRISPRa to activate the lncRNA. Recently, Joung’s group applied CRISPRa in a genome-wide scale to identify lncRNAs that render melanoma cells’ drug resistance to vemurafenib [114]. CRISPRa directly activates the expression of endogenous genes from their genomic locus [107], and therefore, it keeps the function of the lncRNA transcriptional region and makes the simultaneous activation of multiple lncRNA isoforms possible. These methods could be applied to PSCs for the gain-of-function study of the lncRNA regulators of pluripotency maintenance.
5. Other Potential Applications of Genome Editing Tools in Studying lncRNAs in PSCs
CRISPR/Cas9 is a versatile tool for genome editing and expression regulation. Besides its applications in editing the genetic locus in ESCs, CRISPR/Cas9 can be adopted to investigate other aspects of lncRNA biology in ESCs. A number of nuclear lncRNAs may act by interacting with chromosomes to regulate gene expression [115, 116]. The inhibition of expression of these lncRNAs by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated truncation of their promoters will cause downregulation of neighboring genes’ expression [109, 117]. To study the role of these lncRNAs, a valuable tool, named CRISPR-Display, was developed to deliver an lncRNA-protein complex to DNA loci [118]. Functional RNA domains can be inserted into gRNAs, allowing the identification of the direct effect of ectopically targeting lncRNAs on chromatin (Figure 4(c)). In addition, this system can be multiplexed to investigate the influences of recruitment of lncRNAs on several genomic loci simultaneously. Moreover, it was recently discovered that the CRISPR system could be edited to interact with cellular RNAs. Cas9 directly binds or cuts RNAs in the assistance of DNA PAMmers [119]. This enables the cleavage of RNA or pulldown of mRNA through RNA-RNA hybridization by Cas9-gRNA [119]. It can be used to cleave lncRNAs with Cas9 or pull down lncRNAs with dCas9 in ESCs to analyze the potential interacting proteins of lncRNAs (Figures 4(d) and 4(e)). With this system, dCas9 fused with GFP is targeted to mRNAs to track their localization in live cells with the guidance of sgRNA [120]. This system can also be adopted to study lncRNA position in PSCs and track lncRNA localization in live PSCs (Figure 4(f)).
6. Conclusions and Perspectives
In the recent years, thousands of lncRNAs have been identified. Several of them were shown to play important roles in PSCs [116]. However, the advancements in genome editing technologies are just starting to be widely applied in PSCs to study the functions of lncRNAs. Considering the diverse functions of the lncRNA genomic locus and its transcript(s), multiple genome editing approaches should be applied to distinguish the functions of the lncRNA transcript and its gene locus in PSCs. lncRNAs are important biomarkers in embryo development and disease progression. The establishment of the lncRNA reporter in vivo will enable the monitoring of these processes. The development of emerging CRISPR genome editing technologies opens new gates to lncRNA biology in PSCs. Future studies should adopt these novel strategies to probe the functions of lncRNAs in PSCs. These genome editing tools should also be exploited to explore physiological functions of lncRNAs in a systematic scope.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest present for this study.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City (15JCZDJC65600) and National Science Foundation of China (31671352) and funding from the National Thousand Young Talents Program and Nankai University.
MandaiM.WatanabeA.KurimotoY.HiramiY.MorinagaC.DaimonT.FujiharaM.AkimaruH.SakaiN.ShibataY.TeradaM.NomiyaY.TanishimaS.NakamuraM.KamaoH.SugitaS.OnishiA.ItoT.FujitaK.KawamataS.GoM. J.ShinoharaC.HataK.i.SawadaM.YamamotoM.OhtaS.OharaY.YoshidaK.KuwaharaJ.KitanoY.AmanoN.UmekageM.KitaokaF.TanakaA.OkadaC.TakasuN.OgawaS.YamanakaS.TakahashiM.Autologous induced stem-cell–derived retinal cells for macular degeneration2017376111038104610.1056/NEJMoa160836828296613NecsuleaA.SoumillonM.WarneforsM.LiechtiA.DaishT.ZellerU.BakerJ. C.GrütznerF.KaessmannH.The evolution of lncRNA repertoires and expression patterns in tetrapods2014505748563564010.1038/nature129432-s2.0-8489590812024463510KapustaA.KronenbergZ.LynchV. J.ZhuoX.RamsayL. A.BourqueG.YandellM.FeschotteC.Transposable elements are major contributors to the origin, diversification, and regulation of vertebrate long noncoding RNAs201394, article e100347010.1371/journal.pgen.10034702-s2.0-8487686434523637635BertoneP.StolcV.RoyceT. E.RozowskyJ. S.UrbanA. E.ZhuX.RinnJ. L.TongprasitW.SamantaM.WeissmanS.GersteinM.SnyderM.Global identification of human transcribed sequences with genome tiling arrays200430657052242224610.1126/science.11033882-s2.0-1994437645715539566KapranovP.CawleyS. E.DrenkowJ.BekiranovS.StrausbergR. L.FodorS. P.GingerasT. R.Large-scale transcriptional activity in chromosomes 21 and 222002296556991691910.1126/science.10685972-s2.0-003701288111988577KapranovP.ChengJ.DikeS.NixD. A.DuttaguptaR.WillinghamA. T.StadlerP. F.HertelJ.HackermullerJ.HofackerI. L.BellI.CheungE.DrenkowJ.DumaisE.PatelS.HeltG.GaneshM.GhoshS.PiccolboniA.SementchenkoV.TammanaH.GingerasT. R.RNA maps reveal new RNA classes and a possible function for pervasive transcription200731658301484148810.1126/science.11383412-s2.0-3425016025617510325CarninciP.KasukawaT.KatayamaS.GoughJ.FrithM. C.MaedaN.OyamaR.RavasiT.LenhardB.WellsC.KodziusR.ShimokawaK.BajicV. B.BrennerS. E.BatalovS.ForrestA. R.ZavolanM.DavisM. J.WilmingL. G.AidinisV.AllenJ. E.Ambesi-ImpiombatoA.ApweilerR.AturaliyaR. N.BaileyT. L.BansalM.BaxterL.BeiselK. W.BersanoT.BonoH.ChalkA. M.ChiuK. P.ChoudharyV.ChristoffelsA.ClutterbuckD. R.CroweM. L.DallaE.DalrympleB. P.de BonoB.Della GattaG.di BernardoD.DownT.EngstromP.FagioliniM.FaulknerG.FletcherC. F.FukushimaT.FurunoM.FutakiS.GariboldiM.Georgii-HemmingP.GingerasT. R.GojoboriT.GreenR. E.GustincichS.HarbersM.HayashiY.HenschT. K.HirokawaN.HillD.HuminieckiL.IaconoM.IkeoK.IwamaA.IshikawaT.JaktM.KanapinA.KatohM.KawasawaY.KelsoJ.KitamuraH.KitanoH.KolliasG.KrishnanS. P.KrugerA.KummerfeldS. K.KurochkinI. V.LareauL. F.LazarevicD.LipovichL.LiuJ.LiuniS.McWilliamS.Madan BabuM.MaderaM.MarchionniL.MatsudaH.MatsuzawaS.MikiH.MignoneF.MiyakeS.MorrisK.Mottagui-TabarS.MulderN.NakanoN.NakauchiH.NgP.NilssonR.NishiguchiS.NishikawaS.NoriF.OharaO.OkazakiY.OrlandoV.PangK. C.PavanW. J.PavesiG.PesoleG.PetrovskyN.PiazzaS.ReedJ.ReidJ. F.RingB. Z.RingwaldM.RostB.RuanY.SalzbergS. L.SandelinA.SchneiderC.SchönbachC.SekiguchiK.SempleC. A.SenoS.SessaL.ShengY.ShibataY.ShimadaH.ShimadaK.SilvaD.SinclairB.SperlingS.StupkaE.SugiuraK.SultanaR.TakenakaY.TakiK.TammojaK.TanS. L.TangS.TaylorM. S.TegnerJ.TeichmannS. A.UedaH. R.van NimwegenE.VerardoR.WeiC. L.YagiK.YamanishiH.ZabarovskyE.ZhuS.ZimmerA.HideW.BultC.GrimmondS. M.TeasdaleR. D.LiuE. T.BrusicV.QuackenbushJ.WahlestedtC.MattickJ. S.HumeD. A.KaiC.SasakiD.TomaruY.FukudaS.Kanamori-KatayamaM.SuzukiM.AokiJ.ArakawaT.IidaJ.ImamuraK.ItohM.KatoT.KawajiH.KawagashiraN.KawashimaT.KojimaM.KondoS.KonnoH.NakanoK.NinomiyaN.NishioT.OkadaM.PlessyC.ShibataK.ShirakiT.SuzukiS.TagamiM.WakiK.WatahikiA.Okamura-OhoY.SuzukiH.KawaiJ.HayashizakiY.FANTOM ConsortiumRIKEN Genome Exploration Research Group and Genome Science Group (Genome Network Project Core Group)The transcriptional landscape of the mammalian genome200530957401559156310.1126/science.11120142-s2.0-2464448098116141072BirneyE.StamatoyannopoulosJ. A.DuttaA.GuigóR.GingerasT. R.MarguliesE. H.WengZ.SnyderM.DermitzakisE. T.StamatoyannopoulosJ. A.ThurmanR. E.KuehnM. S.TaylorC. M.NephS.KochC. M.AsthanaS.MalhotraA.AdzhubeiI.GreenbaumJ. A.AndrewsR. M.FlicekP.BoyleP. J.CaoH.CarterN. P.ClellandG. K.DavisS.DayN.DhamiP.DillonS. C.DorschnerM. O.FieglerH.GiresiP. G.GoldyJ.HawrylyczM.HaydockA.HumbertR.JamesK. D.JohnsonB. E.JohnsonE. M.FrumT. T.RosenzweigE. R.KarnaniN.LeeK.LefebvreG. C.NavasP. A.NeriF.ParkerS. C. J.SaboP. J.SandstromR.ShaferA.VetrieD.WeaverM.WilcoxS.Yu1M.CollinsF. S.DekkerJ.LiebJ. D.TulliusT. D.CrawfordG. E.SunyaevS.NobleW. S.DunhamI.DuttaA.GuigóR.DenoeudF.ReymondA.KapranovP.RozowskyJ.ZhengD.CasteloR.FrankishA.HarrowJ.GhoshS.SandelinA.HofackerI. L.BaertschR.KeefeD.FlicekP.DikeS.ChengJ.HirschH. A.SekingerE. A.LagardeJ.AbrilJ. F.ShahabA.FlammC.FriedC.HackermüllerJ.HertelJ.LindemeyerM.MissalK.TanzerA.WashietlS.KorbelJ.EmanuelssonO.PedersenJ. S.HolroydN.TaylorR.SwarbreckD.MatthewsN.DicksonM. C.ThomasD. J.WeirauchM. T.GilbertJ.DrenkowJ.BellI.ZhaoX. D.SrinivasanK. G.SungW. K.OoiH. S.ChiuK. P.FoissacS.AliotoT.BrentM.PachterL.TressM. L.ValenciaA.ChooS. W.ChooC. Y.UclaC.ManzanoC.WyssC.CheungE.ClarkT. G.BrownJ. B.GaneshM.PatelS.TammanaH.ChrastJ.HenrichsenC. N.KaiC.KawaiJ.NagalakshmiU.WuJ.LianZ.LianJ.NewburgerP.ZhangX.BickelP.MattickJ. S.CarninciP.HayashizakiY.WeissmanS.DermitzakisE. T.MarguliesE. H.HubbardT.MyersR. M.RogersJ.StadlerP. F.LoweT. M.WeiC. L.RuanY.SnyderM.BirneyE.StruhlK.GersteinM.AntonarakisS. E.GingerasT. R.BrownJ. B.FlicekP.FuY.KeefeD.BirneyE.DenoeudF.GersteinM.GreenE. D.KapranovP.KaraözU.MyersR. M.NobleW. S.ReymondA.RozowskyJ.StruhlK.SiepelA.StamatoyannopoulosJ. A.TaylorC. M.TaylorJ.ThurmanR. E.TulliusT. D.WashietlS.ZhengD.LieferL. A.WetterstrandK. A.GoodP. J.FeingoldE. A.GuyerM. S.CollinsF. S.MarguliesE. H.CooperG. M.AsimenosG.ThomasD. J.DeweyC. N.SiepelA.BirneyE.KeefeD.HouM.TaylorJ.NikolaevS.Montoya-BurgosJ. I.LöytynojaA.WhelanS.PardiF.MassinghamT.BrownJ. B.HuangH.ZhangN. R.BickelP.HolmesI.MullikinJ. C.Ureta-VidalA.PatenB.SeringhausM.ChurchD.RosenbloomK.KentW. J.StoneE. A.NISC Comparative Sequencing ProgramBaylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing CenterWashington University Genome Sequencing CenterBroad InstituteChildren's Hospital Oakland Research InstituteGersteinM.AntonarakisS. E.BatzoglouS.GoldmanN.HardisonR. C.HausslerD.MillerW.PachterL.GreenE. D.SidowA.WengZ.TrinkleinN. D.FuY.ZhangZ. D.KaraözU.BarreraL.StuartR.ZhengD.GhoshS.FlicekP.KingD. C.TaylorJ.AmeurA.EnrothS.BiedaM. C.KochC. M.HirschH. A.WeiC. L.ChengJ.KimJ.BhingeA. A.GiresiP. G.JiangN.LiuJ.YaoF.SungW. K.ChiuK. P.VegaV. B.LeeC. W. H.NgP.ShahabA.SekingerE. A.YangA.MoqtaderiZ.ZhuZ.XuX.SquazzoS.OberleyM. J.InmanD.SingerM. A.RichmondT. A.MunnK. J.Rada-IglesiasA.WallermanO.KomorowskiJ.ClellandG. K.WilcoxS.DillonS. C.AndrewsR. M.FowlerJ. C.CouttetP.JamesK. D.LefebvreG. C.BruceA. W.DoveyO. M.EllisP. D.DhamiP.LangfordC. F.CarterN. P.VetrieD.KapranovP.NixD. A.BellI.PatelS.RozowskyJ.EuskirchenG.HartmanS.LianJ.WuJ.UrbanA. E.KrausP.van CalcarS.HeintzmanN.Hoon KimT.WangK.QuC.HonG.LunaR.GlassC. K.RosenfeldM. G.AldredS. F.CooperS. J.HaleesA.LinJ. M.ShulhaH. P.ZhangX.XuM.HaidarJ. N. S.YuY.BirneyE.WeissmanS.RuanY.LiebJ. D.IyerV. R.GreenR. D.GingerasT. R.WadeliusC.DunhamI.StruhlK.HardisonR. C.GersteinM.FarnhamP. J.MyersR. M.RenB.SnyderM.ThomasD. J.RosenbloomK.HarteR. A.HinrichsA. S.TrumbowerH.ClawsonH.Hillman-JacksonJ.ZweigA. S.SmithK.ThakkapallayilA.BarberG.KuhnR. M.KarolchikD.HausslerD.KentW. J.DermitzakisE. T.ArmengolL.BirdC. P.ClarkT. G.CooperG. M.de BakkerP. I. W.KernA. D.Lopez-BigasN.MartinJ. D.StrangerB. E.ThomasD. J.WoodroffeA.BatzoglouS.DavydovE.DimasA.EyrasE.HallgrímsdóttirI. B.HardisonR. C.HuppertJ.SidowA.TaylorJ.TrumbowerH.ZodyM. C.GuigóR.MullikinJ. C.AbecasisG. R.EstivillX.BirneyE.BouffardG. G.GuanX.HansenN. F.IdolJ. R.MaduroV. V. B.MaskeriB.McDowellJ. C.ParkM.ThomasP. J.YoungA. C.BlakesleyR. W.MuznyD. M.SodergrenE.WheelerD. A.WorleyK. C.JiangH.WeinstockG. M.GibbsR. A.GravesT.FultonR.MardisE. R.WilsonR. K.ClampM.CuffJ.GnerreS.JaffeD. B.ChangJ. L.Lindblad-TohK.LanderE. S.KoriabineM.NefedovM.OsoegawaK.YoshinagaY.ZhuB.de JongP. J.Identification and analysis of functional elements in 1% of the human genome by the ENCODE pilot project2007447714679981610.1038/nature058742-s2.0-3425030514617571346LiuC.BaiB.SkogerbøG.CaiL.DengW.ZhangY.BuD.ZhaoY.ChenR.NONCODE: an integrated knowledge database of non-coding RNAs200533Database issueD112D11510.1093/nar/gki0412-s2.0-1344426784115608158HonC. C.RamilowskiJ. A.HarshbargerJ.BertinN.RackhamO. J. L.GoughJ.DenisenkoE.SchmeierS.PoulsenT. M.SeverinJ.LizioM.KawajiH.KasukawaT.ItohM.BurroughsA. M.NomaS.DjebaliS.AlamT.MedvedevaY. A.TestaA. C.LipovichL.YipC. W.AbugessaisaI.MendezM.HasegawaA.TangD.LassmannT.HeutinkP.BabinaM.WellsC. A.KojimaS.NakamuraY.SuzukiH.DaubC. O.de HoonM. J. L.ArnerE.HayashizakiY.CarninciP.ForrestA. R. R.An atlas of human long non-coding RNAs with accurate 5′ ends2017543764419920410.1038/nature2137428241135BussottiG.LeonardiT.ClarkM. B.MercerT. R.CrawfordJ.MalquoriL.NotredameC.DingerM. E.MattickJ. S.EnrightA. J.Improved definition of the mouse transcriptome via targeted RNA sequencing201626570571610.1101/gr.199760.1152-s2.0-8496496334327197243LiangG.LinJ. C. Y.WeiV.YooC.ChengJ. C.NguyenC. T.WeisenbergerD. J.EggerG.TakaiD.GonzalesF. A.JonesP. A.Distinct localization of histone H3 acetylation and H3-K4 methylation to the transcription start sites in the human genome2004101197357736210.1073/pnas.04018661012-s2.0-244245468315123803GuentherM. G.LevineS. S.BoyerL. A.JaenischR.YoungR. A.A chromatin landmark and transcription initiation at most promoters in human cells20071301778810.1016/j.cell.2007.05.0422-s2.0-3444709837017632057MikkelsenT. S.KuM.JaffeD. B.IssacB.LiebermanE.GiannoukosG.AlvarezP.BrockmanW.KimT. K.KocheR. P.LeeW.MendenhallE.O’DonovanA.PresserA.RussC.XieX.MeissnerA.WernigM.JaenischR.NusbaumC.LanderE. S.BernsteinB. E.Genome-wide maps of chromatin state in pluripotent and lineage-committed cells2007448715355356010.1038/nature060082-s2.0-3454762430317603471GuttmanM.AmitI.GarberM.FrenchC.LinM. F.FeldserD.HuarteM.ZukO.CareyB. W.CassadyJ. P.CabiliM. N.JaenischR.MikkelsenT. S.JacksT.HacohenN.BernsteinB. E.KellisM.RegevA.RinnJ. L.LanderE. S.Chromatin signature reveals over a thousand highly conserved large non-coding RNAs in mammals2009458723522322710.1038/nature076722-s2.0-6224913370919182780ZhongC.YinQ.XieZ.BaiM.DongR.TangW.XingY. H.ZhangH.YangS.ChenL. L.BartolomeiM. S.Ferguson-SmithA.LiD.YangL.WuY.LiJ.CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genetic screening in mice with haploid embryonic stem cells carrying a guide RNA library201517222123210.1016/j.stem.2015.06.0052-s2.0-8493874660426165924LuX.SachsF.RamsayL. A.JacquesP. É.GökeJ.BourqueG.NgH. H.The retrovirus HERVH is a long noncoding RNA required for human embryonic stem cell identity20142144234252468188610.1038/nsmb.27992-s2.0-84898010302TripathiV.EllisJ. D.ShenZ.SongD. Y.PanQ.WattA. T.FreierS. M.BennettC. F.SharmaA.BubulyaP. A.BlencoweB. J.PrasanthS. G.PrasanthK. V.The nuclear-retained noncoding RNA MALAT1 regulates alternative splicing by modulating SR splicing factor phosphorylation201039692593810.1016/j.molcel.2010.08.0112-s2.0-7795692782320797886YoonJ. H.AbdelmohsenK.SrikantanS.YangX.MartindaleJ. L.DeS.HuarteM.ZhanM.BeckerK. G.GorospeM.LincRNA-p21 suppresses target mRNA translation201247464865510.1016/j.molcel.2012.06.0272-s2.0-8486537936122841487ZwakaT. P.ThomsonJ. A.Homologous recombination in human embryonic stem cells200321331932110.1038/nbt7882-s2.0-003733682012577066GiudiceA.TrounsonA.Genetic modification of human embryonic stem cells for derivation of target cells20082542243310.1016/j.stem.2008.04.0032-s2.0-4264909514918462693HockemeyerD.JaenischR.Induced pluripotent stem cells meet genome editing201618557358610.1016/j.stem.2016.04.0132-s2.0-8496693089027152442HottaA.YamanakaS.From genomics to gene therapy: induced pluripotent stem cells meet genome editing2015491477010.1146/annurev-genet-112414-0549262-s2.0-8494876094826407033AlwinS.GereM. B.GuhlE.EffertzK.BarbasC. F.IIISegalD. J.WeitzmanM. D.CathomenT.Custom zinc-finger nucleases for use in human cells20051246106171603990710.1016/j.ymthe.2005.06.0942-s2.0-25144501447MillerJ. C.TanS.QiaoG.BarlowK. A.WangJ.XiaD. F.MengX.PaschonD. E.LeungE.HinkleyS. J.DulayG. P.HuaK. L.AnkoudinovaI.CostG. J.UrnovF. D.ZhangH. S.HolmesM. C.ZhangL.GregoryP. D.RebarE. J.A TALE nuclease architecture for efficient genome editing20112921431482117909110.1038/nbt.17552-s2.0-79551685675ZhangF.CongL.LodatoS.KosuriS.ChurchG. M.ArlottaP.Efficient construction of sequence-specific TAL effectors for modulating mammalian transcription201129214915310.1038/nbt.17752-s2.0-7975148729721248753JinekM.ChylinskiK.FonfaraI.HauerM.DoudnaJ. A.CharpentierE.A programmable dual-RNA–guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity2012337609681682110.1126/science.12258292-s2.0-8486507036922745249CongL.RanF. A.CoxD.LinS.BarrettoR.HabibN.HsuP. D.WuX.JiangW.MarraffiniL. A.ZhangF.Multiplex genome engineering using CRISPR/Cas systems2013339612181982310.1126/science.12311432-s2.0-8487372909523287718AmaralP. P.ClarkM. B.GascoigneD. K.DingerM. E.MattickJ. S.lncRNAdb: a reference database for long noncoding RNAs201139Supplement 1D146D15110.1093/nar/gkq11382-s2.0-7865132593221112873BhartiyaD.PalK.GhoshS.KapoorS.JalaliS.PanwarB.JainS.SatiS.SenguptaS.SachidanandanC.RaghavaG. P.SivasubbuS.ScariaV.lncRNome: a comprehensive knowledgebase of human long noncoding RNAs20132013, article bat0342384659310.1093/database/bat0342-s2.0-84885912472ParkC.YuN.ChoiI.KimW.LeeS.lncRNAtor: a comprehensive resource for functional investigation of long non-coding RNAs201430172480248510.1093/bioinformatics/btu3252-s2.0-8490703237324813212MaL.LiA.ZouD.XuX.XiaL.YuJ.BajicV. B.ZhangZ.LncRNAWiki: harnessing community knowledge in collaborative curation of human long non-coding RNAs201543D1D187D19210.1093/nar/gku11672-s2.0-8494110025225399417VoldersP. J.HelsensK.WangX.MentenB.MartensL.GevaertK.VandesompeleJ.MestdaghP.LNCipedia: a database for annotated human lncRNA transcript sequences and structures201341D1D246D25110.1093/nar/gks9152-s2.0-8487553054023042674LiuK.YanZ.LiY.SunZ.Linc2GO: a human LincRNA function annotation resource based on ceRNA hypothesis201329172221222210.1093/bioinformatics/btt3612-s2.0-8488264338523793747LiJ. H.LiuS.ZhouH.QuL. H.YangJ. H.starBase v2.0: decoding miRNA-ceRNA, miRNA-ncRNA and protein–RNA interaction networks from large-scale CLIP-Seq data201442D1D92D972429725110.1093/nar/gkt12482-s2.0-84891818924YuanJ.WuW.XieC.ZhaoG.ZhaoY.ChenR.NPInter v2.0: an updated database of ncRNA interactions201442D1D104D1082421791610.1093/nar/gkt10572-s2.0-84891773261WangP.NingS.ZhangY.LiR.YeJ.ZhaoZ.ZhiH.WangT.GuoZ.LiX.Identification of lncRNA-associated competing triplets reveals global patterns and prognostic markers for cancer20154373478348910.1093/nar/gkv2332-s2.0-8493050537625800746YangJ. H.LiJ. H.JiangS.ZhouH.QuL. H.ChIPBase: a database for decoding the transcriptional regulation of long non-coding RNA and microRNA genes from ChIP-Seq data201341D1D177D18710.1093/nar/gks10602-s2.0-8487656691423161675NingS.ZhaoZ.YeJ.WangP.ZhiH.LiR.WangT.WangJ.WangL.LiX.SNP@lincTFBS: an integrated database of polymorphisms in human LincRNA transcription factor binding sites201497, article e10385110.1371/journal.pone.01038512-s2.0-8490502796425075616JiangQ.WangJ.WangY.MaR.WuX.LiY.TF2LncRNA: identifying common transcription factors for a list of lncRNA genes from ChIP-Seq data20142014510.1155/2014/3176422-s2.0-8489783398024729968317642ZhouZ.ShenY.KhanM. R.LiA.LncReg: a reference resource for lncRNA-associated regulatory networks20152015, article bav0832636302110.1093/database/bav0832-s2.0-84943165926ZhaoZ.BaiJ.WuA.WangY.ZhangJ.WangZ.LiY.XuJ.LiX.Co-LncRNA: investigating the lncRNA combinatorial effects in GO annotations and KEGG pathways based on human RNA-Seq data20152015, article bav0822636302010.1093/database/bav0822-s2.0-84943156256WeirickT.JohnD.DimmelerS.UchidaS.C-It-Loci: a knowledge database for tissue-enriched loci201531213537354310.1093/bioinformatics/btv4102-s2.0-8494755324426163692ChenG.WangZ.WangD.QiuC.LiuM.ChenX.ZhangQ.YanG.CuiQ.LncRNADisease: a database for long-non-coding RNA-associated diseases201341D1D983D98610.1093/nar/gks10992-s2.0-8487612582923175614LiuY.ZhaoM.lnCaNet: pan-cancer co-expression network for human lncRNA and cancer genes201632101595159710.1093/bioinformatics/btw0172-s2.0-8496997216426787663NingS.ZhangJ.WangP.ZhiH.WangJ.LiuY.GaoY.GuoM.YueM.WangL.LiX.Lnc2Cancer: a manually curated database of experimentally supported lncRNAs associated with various human cancers201644D1D980D98510.1093/nar/gkv10942-s2.0-8497688304126481356YapK. L.LiS.Muñoz-CabelloA. M.RaguzS.ZengL.MujtabaS.GilJ.WalshM. J.ZhouM. M.Molecular interplay of the noncoding RNA ANRIL and methylated histone H3 lysine 27 by polycomb CBX7 in transcriptional silencing of INK4a201038566267410.1016/j.molcel.2010.03.0212-s2.0-7795309607220541999RinnJ. L.KerteszM.WangJ. K.SquazzoS. L.XuX.BrugmannS. A.GoodnoughL. H.HelmsJ. A.FarnhamP. J.SegalE.ChangH. Y.Functional demarcation of active and silent chromatin domains in human HOX loci by noncoding RNAs200712971311132310.1016/j.cell.2007.05.0222-s2.0-3425072913817604720BumgarnerS. L.NeuertG.VoightB. F.Symbor-NagrabskaA.GrisafiP.van OudenaardenA.FinkG. R.Single-cell analysis reveals that noncoding RNAs contribute to clonal heterogeneity by modulating transcription factor recruitment201245447048210.1016/j.molcel.2011.11.0292-s2.0-8485739561122264825LinN.ChangK. Y.LiZ.GatesK.RanaZ. A.DangJ.ZhangD.HanT.YangC. S.CunninghamT. J.HeadS. R.DuesterG.DongP. D. S.RanaT. M.An evolutionarily conserved long noncoding RNA TUNA controls pluripotency and neural lineage commitment20145361005101910.1016/j.molcel.2014.01.0212-s2.0-8489639392424530304WangK. C.YangY. W.LiuB.SanyalA.Corces-ZimmermanR.ChenY.LajoieB. R.ProtacioA.FlynnR. A.GuptaR. A.WysockaJ.LeiM.DekkerJ.HelmsJ. A.ChangH. Y.A long noncoding RNA maintains active chromatin to coordinate homeotic gene expression2011472734112012410.1038/nature098192-s2.0-7995374867321423168HainerS. J.PruneskiJ. A.MitchellR. D.MonteverdeR. M.MartensJ. A.Intergenic transcription causes repression by directing nucleosome assembly2011251294010.1101/gad.19750112-s2.0-7865087336521156811HirotaK.MiyoshiT.KugouK.HoffmanC. S.ShibataT.OhtaK.Stepwise chromatin remodelling by a cascade of transcription initiation of non-coding RNAs2008456721813013410.1038/nature073482-s2.0-5554909887218820678TanD. S. W.ChongF. T.LeongH. S.TohS. Y.LauD. P.KwangX. L.ZhangX.SundaramG. M.TanG. S.ChangM. M.ChuaB. T.LimW. T.TanE. H.AngM. K.LimT. K. H.SampathP.ChowbayB.SkanderupA. J.DasGuptaR.IyerN. G.Long noncoding RNA EGFR-AS1 mediates epidermal growth factor receptor addiction and modulates treatment response in squamous cell carcinoma201723101167117510.1038/nm.440128920960LoewerS.CabiliM. N.GuttmanM.LohY. H.ThomasK.ParkI. H.GarberM.CurranM.OnderT.AgarwalS.ManosP. D.DattaS.LanderE. S.SchlaegerT. M.DaleyG. Q.RinnJ. L.Large intergenic non-coding RNA-RoR modulates reprogramming of human induced pluripotent stem cells201042121113111710.1038/ng.7102-s2.0-7864946708821057500LiuX.LiD.ZhangW.GuoM.ZhanQ.Long non-coding RNA gadd7 interacts with TDP-43 and regulates Cdk6 mRNA decay201231234415442710.1038/emboj.2012.2922-s2.0-8487047961623103768ZhangL.YangZ.TrottierJ.BarbierO.WangL.Long noncoding RNA MEG3 induces cholestatic liver injury by interaction with PTBP1 to facilitate shp mRNA decay201765260461510.1002/hep.288822-s2.0-8500741565127770549CarrieriC.CimattiL.BiagioliM.BeugnetA.ZucchelliS.FedeleS.PesceE.FerrerI.CollavinL.SantoroC.ForrestA. R. R.CarninciP.BiffoS.StupkaE.GustincichS.Long non-coding antisense RNA controls Uchl1 translation through an embedded SINEB2 repeat2012491742445445710.1038/nature115082-s2.0-8486908882023064229Durruthy-DurruthyJ.SebastianoV.WossidloM.CepedaD.CuiJ.GrowE. J.DavilaJ.MallM.WongW. H.WysockaJ.AuK. F.Reijo PeraR. A.The primate-specific noncoding RNA HPAT5 regulates pluripotency during human preimplantation development and nuclear reprogramming2016481445210.1038/ng.34492-s2.0-8494797628726595768WangY.ChenF.ZhaoM.YangZ.LiJ.ZhangS.ZhangW.YeL.ZhangX.The long noncoding RNA HULC promotes liver cancer by increasing the expression of the HMGA2 oncogene via sequestration of the microRNA-186201729237153951540710.1074/jbc.M117.78373828765279MatsumotoA.PasutA.MatsumotoM.YamashitaR.FungJ.MonteleoneE.SaghatelianA.NakayamaK. I.ClohessyJ. G.PandolfiP. P.mTORC1 and muscle regeneration are regulated by the LINC00961-encoded SPAR polypeptide2017541763622823210.1038/nature2103428024296EissmannM.GutschnerT.HämmerleM.GüntherS.Caudron-HergerM.GroßM.SchirmacherP.RippeK.BraunT.ZörnigM.DiederichsS.Loss of the abundant nuclear non-coding RNA MALAT1 is compatible with life and development2012981076108710.4161/rna.210892-s2.0-8486404769522858678YinY.YanP.LuJ.SongG.ZhuY.LiZ.ZhaoY.ShenB.HuangX.ZhuH.OrkinS. H.ShenX.Opposing roles for the lncRNA Haunt and its genomic locus in regulating HOXA gene activation during embryonic stem cell differentiation201516550451610.1016/j.stem.2015.03.0072-s2.0-8492927287025891907CapecchiM. R.Gene targeting in mice: functional analysis of the mammalian genome for the twenty-first century20056650751210.1038/nrg16192-s2.0-1954437137315931173LatosP. A.StrickerS. H.SteenpassL.PaulerF. M.HuangR.SenerginB. H.ReghaK.KoernerM. V.WarczokK. E.UngerC.BarlowD. P.An in vitro ES cell imprinting model shows that imprinted expression of the Igf2r gene arises from an allele-specific expression bias2009136343744810.1242/dev.0320602-s2.0-6454908546919141673LeightonP. A.IngramR. S.EggenschwilerJ.EfstratiadisA.TilghmanS. M.Disruption of imprinting caused by deletion of the H19 gene region in mice19953756526343910.1038/375034a07536897BlascoM.FunkW.VilleponteauB.GreiderC.Functional characterization and developmental regulation of mouse telomerase RNA199526952281267127010.1126/science.75444927544492FengJ.FunkW.WangS.WeinrichS.AvilionA.ChiuC.AdamsR.ChangE.AllsoppR.YuJ.LeS.The RNA component of human telomerase199526952281236124110.1126/science.75444917544491NiidaH.MatsumotoT.SatohH.ShiwaM.TokutakeY.FuruichiY.ShinkaiY.Severe growth defect in mouse cells lacking the telomerase RNA component199819220320610.1038/5802-s2.0-00318105559620783HuangJ.WangF.OkukaM.LiuN.JiG.YeX.ZuoB.LiM.LiangP.GeW. W.TsibrisJ. C. M.KeefeD. L.LiuL.Association of telomere length with authentic pluripotency of ES/iPS cells201121577979210.1038/cr.2011.162-s2.0-7995557345221283131HerreraE.SamperE.Martín-CaballeroJ.FloresJ. M.LeeH. W.BlascoM. A.Disease states associated with telomerase deficiency appear earlier in mice with short telomeres199918112950296010.1093/emboj/18.11.29502-s2.0-003315342410357808LiuY.LuoD.ZhaoH.ZhuZ.HuW.ChengC. H. K.Inheritable and precise large genomic deletions of non-coding RNA genes in zebrafish using TALENs2013810, article e7638710.1371/journal.pone.00763872-s2.0-8488541315724130773HoT. T.ZhouN.HuangJ.KoiralaP.XuM.FungR.WuF.MoY. Y.Targeting non-coding RNAs with the CRISPR/Cas9 system in human cell lines2015433, article e1710.1093/nar/gku11982-s2.0-8493607733325414344ZhangM.LiuY.LiuG.LiX.JiaY.SunL.WangL.ZhouQ.HuangY.Rapidly generating knockout mice from H19-Igf2 engineered androgenetic haploid embryonic stem cells20151, article 1503110.1038/celldisc.2015.3127462429ZhongC.XieZ.YinQ.DongR.YangS.WuY.YangL.LiJ.Parthenogenetic haploid embryonic stem cells efficiently support mouse generation by oocyte injection20162611311342657597310.1038/cr.2015.1322-s2.0-84953354732MinkovskyA.PatelS.PlathK.Concise review: pluripotency and the transcriptional inactivation of the female mammalian X chromosome2012301485410.1002/stem.7552-s2.0-8485540297421997775WutzA.Xist function: bridging chromatin and stem cells200723945746410.1016/j.tig.2007.07.0042-s2.0-3454788188717681633PennyG. D.KayG. F.SheardownS. A.RastanS.BrockdorffN.Requirement for Xist in X chromosome inactivation1996379656113113710.1038/379131a02-s2.0-00300260018538762MarahrensY.PanningB.DausmanJ.StraussW.JaenischR.Xist-deficient mice are defective in dosage compensation but not spermatogenesis1997112156166900919910.1101/gad.11.2.156MohammadF.MondalT.GusevaN.PandeyG. K.KanduriC.Kcnq1ot1 noncoding RNA mediates transcriptional gene silencing by interacting with Dnmt12010137152493249910.1242/dev.0481812-s2.0-7795575730920573698MohammadF.PandeyR. R.NaganoT.ChakalovaL.MondalT.FraserP.KanduriC.Kcnq1ot1/Lit1 noncoding RNA mediates transcriptional silencing by targeting to the perinucleolar region200828113713372810.1128/MCB.02263-072-s2.0-4434911508718299392LeeH. J.KweonJ.KimE.KimS.KimJ. S.Targeted chromosomal duplications and inversions in the human genome using zinc finger nucleases201222353954810.1101/gr.129635.1112-s2.0-8486327579722183967GuptaA.HallV. L.KokF. O.ShinM.McNultyJ. C.LawsonN. D.WolfeS. A.Targeted chromosomal deletions and inversions in zebrafish20132361008101710.1101/gr.154070.1122-s2.0-8487873116523478401KimY.KweonJ.KimA.ChonJ. K.YooJ. Y.KimH. J.KimS.LeeC.JeongE.ChungE.KimD.LeeM. S.GoE. M.SongH. J.KimH.ChoN.BangD.KimS.KimJ. S.A library of TAL effector nucleases spanning the human genome201331325125810.1038/nbt.25172-s2.0-8487515725823417094EssletzbichlerP.KonopkaT.SantoroF.ChenD.GappB. V.KralovicsR.BrummelkampT. R.NijmanS. M. B.BürckstümmerT.Megabase-scale deletion using CRISPR/Cas9 to generate a fully haploid human cell line201424122059206510.1101/gr.177220.1142-s2.0-8491353054325373145HanJ.ZhangJ.ChenL.ShenB.ZhouJ.HuB.DuY.TateP. H.HuangX.ZhangW.Efficient in vivo deletion of a large imprinted lncRNA by CRISPR/Cas9201411782983510.4161/rna.296242-s2.0-8490752800825137067SauvageauM.GoffL. A.LodatoS.BonevB.GroffA. F.GerhardingerC.Sanchez-GomezD. B.HacisuleymanE.LiE.SpenceM.LiapisS. C.MallardW.MorseM.SwerdelM. R.D'EcclessisM. F.MooreJ. C.LaiV.GongG.YancopoulosG. D.FrendeweyD.KellisM.HartR. P.ValenzuelaD. M.ArlottaP.RinnJ. L.Multiple knockout mouse models reveal lincRNAs are required for life and brain development20132, article e0174910.7554/eLife.017492-s2.0-8489175741524381249LaiK. M. V.GongG.AtanasioA.RojasJ.QuispeJ.PoscaJ.WhiteD.HuangM.FedorovaD.GrantC.MiloscioL.DroguettG.PoueymirouW. T.AuerbachW.YancopoulosG. D.FrendeweyD.RinnJ.ValenzuelaD. M.Diverse phenotypes and specific transcription patterns in twenty mouse lines with ablated LincRNAs2015104, article e012552210.1371/journal.pone.01255222-s2.0-8492937915025909911GutschnerT.BaasM.DiederichsS.Noncoding RNA gene silencing through genomic integration of RNA destabilizing elements using zinc finger nucleases201121111944195410.1101/gr.122358.1112-s2.0-8055515753121844124GroteP.HerrmannB. G.The long non-coding RNA Fendrr links epigenetic control mechanisms to gene regulatory networks in mammalian embryogenesis20131010157915852403669510.4161/rna.261652-s2.0-84885971573GroteP.WittlerL.HendrixD.KochF.WährischS.BeisawA.MacuraK.BlässG.KellisM.WerberM.HerrmannB. G.The tissue-specific lncRNA Fendrr is an essential regulator of heart and body wall development in the mouse201324220621410.1016/j.devcel.2012.12.0122-s2.0-8487382989323369715SleutelsF.ZwartR.BarlowD. P.The non-coding Air RNA is required for silencing autosomal imprinted genes2002415687381081310.1038/415810a11845212SantoroF.MayerD.KlementR. M.WarczokK. E.StukalovA.BarlowD. P.PaulerF. M.Imprinted Igf2r silencing depends on continuous Airn lncRNA expression and is not restricted to a developmental window201314061184119510.1242/dev.0888492-s2.0-8487452974623444351LatosP. A.PaulerF. M.KoernerM. V.SenerginH. B.HudsonQ. J.StocsitsR. R.AllhoffW.StrickerS. H.KlementR. M.WarczokK. E.AumayrK.PasierbekP.BarlowD. P.Airn transcriptional overlap, but not its lncRNA products, induces imprinted Igf2r silencing201233861131469147210.1126/science.12281102-s2.0-8487106091123239737Aparicio-PratE.ArnanC.SalaI.BoschN.GuigóR.JohnsonR.DECKO: single-oligo, dual-CRISPR deletion of genomic elements including long non-coding RNAs20151618462649320810.1186/s12864-015-2086-z2-s2.0-84945124703KonoT.ObataY.WuQ.NiwaK.OnoY.YamamotoY.ParkE. S.SeoJ. S.OgawaH.Birth of parthenogenetic mice that can develop to adulthood2004428698586086410.1038/nature024022-s2.0-194253125915103378KawaharaM.WuQ.TakahashiN.MoritaS.YamadaK.ItoM.Ferguson-SmithA. C.KonoT.High-frequency generation of viable mice from engineered bi-maternal embryos20072591045105010.1038/nbt13312-s2.0-3494883409617704765FriedrichG.SorianoP.Promoter traps in embryonic stem cells: a genetic screen to identify and mutate developmental genes in mice1991591513152310.1101/gad.5.9.15131653172ZambrowiczB. P.ImamotoA.FieringS.HerzenbergL. A.KerrW. G.SorianoP.Disruption of overlapping transcripts in the ROSA βgeo 26 gene trap strain leads to widespread expression of β-galactosidase in mouse embryos and hematopoietic cells19979483789379410.1073/pnas.94.8.37892-s2.0-00309909919108056SorianoP.Generalized lacZ expression with the ROSA26 Cre reporter strain199921170110.1038/50072-s2.0-00329237399916792SadelainM.PapapetrouE. P.BushmanF. D.Safe harbours for the integration of new DNA in the human genome2011121515810.1038/nrc31792-s2.0-8465517027322129804IrionS.LucheH.GadueP.FehlingH. J.KennedyM.KellerG.Identification and targeting of the ROSA26 locus in human embryonic stem cells200725121477148210.1038/nbt13622-s2.0-3684901254918037879BrentonJ. D.DrewellR. A.VivilleS.HiltonK. J.BartonS. C.AinscoughJ. F. X.SuraniM. A.A silencer element identified in Drosophila is required for imprinting of H19 reporter transgenes in mice199996169242924710.1073/pnas.96.16.92422-s2.0-003352979310430927GokeJ.LuX.ChanY. S.NgH. H.LyL. H.SachsF.SzczerbinskaI.Dynamic transcription of distinct classes of endogenous retroviral elements marks specific populations of early human embryonic cells201516213514110.1016/j.stem.2015.01.0052-s2.0-8492490770125658370WangJ.XieG.SinghM.GhanbarianA. T.RaskóT.SzvetnikA.CaiH.BesserD.PrigioneA.FuchsN. V.SchumannG. G.ChenW.LorinczM. C.IvicsZ.HurstL. D.IzsvákZ.Primate-specific endogenous retrovirus-driven transcription defines naive-like stem cells2014516753140540910.1038/nature138042-s2.0-8492211523625317556ZhuS.LiW.LiuJ.ChenC. H.LiaoQ.XuP.XuH.XiaoT.CaoZ.PengJ.YuanP.BrownM.LiuX. S.WeiW.Genome-scale deletion screening of human long non-coding RNAs using a paired-guide RNA CRISPR–Cas9 library201634121279128610.1038/nbt.37152-s2.0-8500371273827798563QiL. S.LarsonM. H.GilbertL. A.DoudnaJ. A.WeissmanJ. S.ArkinA. P.LimW. A.Repurposing CRISPR as an RNA-guided platform for sequence-specific control of gene expression201315251173118310.1016/j.cell.2013.02.0222-s2.0-8487468701923452860GilbertL. A.HorlbeckM. A.AdamsonB.VillaltaJ. E.ChenY.WhiteheadE. H.GuimaraesC.PanningB.PloeghH. L.BassikM. C.QiL. S.KampmannM.WeissmanJ. S.Genome-scale CRISPR-mediated control of gene repression and activation2014159364766110.1016/j.cell.2014.09.0292-s2.0-8490835213825307932WernerM. S.SullivanM. A.ShahR. N.NadadurR. D.GrzybowskiA. T.GalatV.MoskowitzI. P.RuthenburgA. J.Chromatin-enriched lncRNAs can act as cell-type specific activators of proximal gene transcription201724759660310.1038/nsmb.342428628087LiuS. J.HorlbeckM. A.ChoS. W.BirkH. S.MalatestaM.HeD.AttenelloF. J.VillaltaJ. E.ChoM. Y.ChenY.MandegarM. A.OlveraM. P.GilbertL. A.ConklinB. R.ChangH. Y.WeissmanJ. S.LimD. A.CRISPRi-based genome-scale identification of functional long noncoding RNA loci in human cells20173556320, article eaah711110.1126/science.aah71112-s2.0-8500825716927980086ChenX.RinsmaM.JanssenJ. M.LiuJ.MaggioI.GonçalvesM. A. F. V.Probing the impact of chromatin conformation on genome editing tools201644136482649210.1093/nar/gkw5242-s2.0-8498285458827280977HuJ.LeiY.WongW. K.LiuS.LeeK. C.HeX.YouW.ZhouR.GuoJ. T.ChenX.PengX.SunH.HuangH.ZhaoH.FengB.Direct activation of human and mouse Oct4 genes using engineered TALE and Cas9 transcription factors20144274375439010.1093/nar/gku1092-s2.0-8489899865524500196WuH.YangL.ChenL. L.The diversity of long noncoding RNAs and their generation201733854055210.1016/j.tig.2017.05.00428629949JoungJ.EngreitzJ. M.KonermannS.AbudayyehO. O.VerdineV. K.AguetF.GootenbergJ. S.SanjanaN. E.WrightJ. B.FulcoC. P.TsengY. Y.YoonC. H.BoehmJ. S.LanderE. S.ZhangF.Genome-scale activation screen identifies a lncRNA locus regulating a gene neighbourhood2017548766734334610.1038/nature2345128792927KhalilA. M.GuttmanM.HuarteM.GarberM.RajA.Rivea MoralesD.ThomasK.PresserA.BernsteinB. E.van OudenaardenA.RegevA.LanderE. S.RinnJ. L.Many human large intergenic noncoding RNAs associate with chromatin-modifying complexes and affect gene expression200910628116671167210.1073/pnas.09047151062-s2.0-6765092194919571010GuttmanM.DonagheyJ.CareyB. W.GarberM.GrenierJ. K.MunsonG.YoungG.LucasA. B.AchR.BruhnL.YangX.AmitI.MeissnerA.RegevA.RinnJ. L.RootD. E.LanderE. S.lincRNAs act in the circuitry controlling pluripotency and differentiation2011477736429530010.1038/nature103982-s2.0-8005286928321874018EngreitzJ. M.HainesJ. E.PerezE. M.MunsonG.ChenJ.KaneM.McDonelP. E.GuttmanM.LanderE. S.Local regulation of gene expression by lncRNA promoters, transcription and splicing2016539762945245510.1038/nature201492-s2.0-8499644186227783602ShechnerD. M.HacisuleymanE.YoungerS. T.RinnJ. L.Multiplexable, locus-specific targeting of long RNAs with CRISPR-Display201512766467010.1038/nmeth.34332-s2.0-8493426757426030444O'ConnellM. R.OakesB. L.SternbergS. H.East-SeletskyA.KaplanM.DoudnaJ. A.Programmable RNA recognition and cleavage by CRISPR/Cas92014516753026326610.1038/nature137692-s2.0-8491356858025274302NellesD. A.FangM. Y.O’ConnellM. R.XuJ. L.MarkmillerS. J.DoudnaJ. A.YeoG. W.Programmable RNA tracking in live cells with CRISPR/Cas92016165248849610.1016/j.cell.2016.02.0542-s2.0-8496122691026997482