Non-coding RNAs match the deleted genomic regions in humans

Abstract

RNA is transcribed from DNA, and therefore, there should be no RNA transcript from the deleted DNA region. Our study attempted to analyse whether any RNA cache that maps the deleted regions is present in human cells. Using data from the 1000 genome project, we selected 41 CEPH (CEU) and 38 Yoruba (YRI) samples that included the data for the entire genome sequence and ncRNA and mRNA sequences. Aligning the ncRNA reads against the genomic DNA in individual samples has revealed that 229 out of 1114 homozygous deletions have ncRNA reads that map to them. Further analysis has revealed that ncRNA reads that map the deleted regions are enriched around the deletion ends and at genic regions of the genome. The read enrichment at deletion ends suggests that these ncRNAs are likely some form of double-strand break induced RNAs. Our analysis suggests that human cells may contain a residual ncRNA cache that is possibly propagated across generations.