CRISPRi-based genome-scale identification of functional long non-coding RNA loci in human cells

The human genome produces thousands of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) – transcripts >200 nucleotides long that do not encode proteins. While critical roles in normal biology and disease have been revealed for a subset of lncRNAs, the function of the vast majority remains untested. Here, we developed a CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) platform targeting 16,401 lncRNA loci in 7 diverse cell lines including 6 transformed cell lines and human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Large-scale screening identified 499 lncRNA loci required for robust cellular growth, of which 89% showed growth modifying function exclusively in one cell type. We further found that lncRNA knockdown can perturb complex transcriptional networks in a cell type-specific manner. These data underscore the functional importance and cell type-specificity of many lncRNAs. Overall design: 96 RNA-seq samples; 16 ChIP-seq samples

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Liu SJ, Horlbeck MA, Cho SW, Birk HS, Malatesta M, He D, Attenello FJ, Villalta JE, Cho MY, Chen Y, Mandegar MA, Olvera MP, Gilbert LA, Conklin BR, Chang HY, Weissman JS, Lim DA