Megan Justice contributed to a publication with the lab of Mauro Calabrese and others at UNC. This work investigated how long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) induce the spread of Polycomb Repressive Complexes (PRCs) across large (megabase sized) regions of the genome. The spread of PRCs is nucleated by CpG island sequences and is controlled by lncRNA abundance and genome architecture. This mechanisms is important for controlling expression of imprinted genes (where only the maternal or paternal is used, and not both).

Congratulations Megan on this cool story, which is featured in artwork on the cover of the issue!

https://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(19)30400-9