| Summary: | The abundance of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and its various roles in human development have brought research closer to understanding the human system beyond the standard central dogma model. One form of ncRNA, the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has gained increasing importance in human development. The lncRNA of interest is SOX2OT which is an overlapping transcript of the pluripotent transcription factor SOX2. SOX2OT was postulated to regulate SOX2 expression and induce neural progenitor cells (NPCs) during neurogenesis. However, our results showed no correlation for the two cases. Even upon neural induction by Dorsomorphin and SB431542, lower neural expression was seen in SOX2OT overexpressing cells. Furthermore, knock-down of SOX2OT in NPCs did not show any expected acceleration and enhancement in neuron formation as deduced from previous results generated by the lab. Undirected differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) overexpressing SOX2OT confirmed poor neuroectodermal and endodermal differentiation efficacy. Instead, the cells differentiated towards the early mesodermal cardiac lineage. As such, though SOX2OT did not seem to play a crucial role in SOX2 regulation and NPC formation, it does affect hESC differentiation and lineage specification during human embryoid development.
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