Xiangdong Fu - RNA: Beyond a Message from DNA to Protein

Professor Fu first reviewed the classification and function of RNAs, especially the mechanism of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and their role in gene transcription regulation, followed by RNA research in the Fu lab. He recalled the development of the genome-wide RNA-chromatin interaction sequencing technology GRID-seq, which facilitated the subsequent research on RNA function. Professor Fu took PVT1 as an example to illustrate how PVT1, as a lncRNA gene, was oncogenic at the RNA level but anti-oncogenic at the DNA level. With the help of Hi-C and GRID-seq technologies, the team also analyzed extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) and homogeneous staining region (HSR) and found that PVT1 lncRNA could mediate trans-chromosomal interactions. The Fu lab proposed a model, in which ecDNA could activate transcription through trans-acting enhancers.