%0 Journal Article %A Ailone Tichon %A Noa Gil %A Tal Havkin Solomon %A Doron Lemze %A Shalev Itzkovitz %A Noam Stern-Ginossar %A Igor Ulitsky %T A conserved abundant cytoplasmic long noncoding RNA modulates repression of mRNAs by PUM2 in human cells %D 2015 %R 10.1101/033423 %J bioRxiv %P 033423 %X Thousands of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) genes are encoded in the human genome, and hundreds of them are evolutionary conserved, but their functions and modes of action remain largely obscure. Particularly enigmatic lncRNAs are those that are exported to the cytoplasm. We identified and characterized an abundant and highly conserved cytoplasmic lncRNA, which we denote Pumilio2-binding long intervening noncoding RNA (PUBLINC). Most of the sequence of this lncRNA is comprised of repetitive units that together contain at least 17 functional binding sites for PUM2, one of the two Pumilio homologs in mammals. Through binding to PUM2, PUBLINC modulates the mRNA levels and translation of PUM2 targets, enriched for genes involved in chromosome segregation during cell division. Our results suggest that some cytoplasmic lncRNAs function by modulating the activities of RNA binding proteins, an activity which positions them at key junctions of cellular signaling pathways. %U https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2015/12/02/033423.full.pdf