Poster abstracts

Poster number 92 submitted by Bing Zhang

A large non coding RNA is involved in the cellular stress response

BING ZHANG (RNA Center, CWRU), Lalith Gunawardane (RNA Center, CWRU), Farshad Niazi (RNA Center, CWRU), Saba Valadkhan (RNA Center, CWRU)

Abstract:
BORG is a ~2700 nucleotide long nuclear transcript that is spliced and polyadenylated but has no protein-coding capacity. It is induced when cells are exposed to stressful conditions in several different cell types, including cells of mesodermal and ectodermal origin. We use microarray to analyze the expression of factors that are involved in cellular stress response and apoptosis when we overexpressed or knocked down the lncRNA. Our analysis shows that several factors that are involved in the apoptosis pathways have been significantly changed in these two cell types. After exposure to stress, the knockdown cells exhibited an
impaired cellular stress response and a much higher death rate compared to controls, while the overexpression cells showed an elevated level of stress response and a cellular stress-resistant phenotype. Together, these data indicate that the lncRNA plays an important role in regulation of the stress response and cellular survival under stressful conditions.

Keywords: lncRNA, cellular stress