AUTHOR=Pintacuda Greta , Young Alexander N. , Cerase Andrea 

TITLE=Function by Structure: Spotlights on Xist Long Non-coding RNA

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2017.00090

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2017.00090

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=<p>Recent experimental evidence indicates that lncRNAs can act as regulatory molecules in the context of development and disease. Xist, the master regulator of X chromosome inactivation, is a classic example of how lncRNAs can exert multi-layered and fine-tuned regulatory functions, by acting as a molecular scaffold for recruitment of distinct protein factors. In this review, we discuss the methodologies employed to define Xist RNA structures and the tight interplay between structural clues and functionality of lncRNAs. This model of modular function dictated by structure, can be also generalized to other lncRNAs, beyond the field of X chromosome inactivation, to explain common features of similarly folded RNAs.</p>