With dual capacities for unlimited self-renewal and pluripotent differentiation, pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) give rise to many cell types in our body and PSC culture systems provide an unparalleled opportunity to study early human development and disease. Accumulating evidence indicates that the molecular mechanisms underlying pluripotency maintenance in PSCs involve many factors. Among these regulators, recent studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can affect the pluripotency circuitry by cooperating with master pluripotency-associated factors. Additionally, trans-spliced RNAs, which are generated by combining two or more pre-mRNA transcripts to produce a chimeric RNA, have been identified as regulators of various biological processes, including human pluripotency. In this review, we summarize and discuss current knowledge about the roles of lncRNAs, including trans-spliced lncRNAs, in controlling pluripotency.
Keywords: Human embryonic stem cells; Induced pluripotent stem cells; Long non-coding RNAs; Pluripotency; Trans-spliced RNA.