Functional long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been in the limelight in aging research because short telomeres are associated with higher levels of TERRA (Telomeric Repeat containing RNA). The genomic instability, which leads to short telomeres, is a mechanism observed in cell aging and in a class of cancer cells. Psoriasis, a skin disease, is a disorder of epidermal keratinocytes, with altered telomerase activity. Research on the fraction of nascent RNAs in hybrid with DNA offers avenues for new strategies. Skin and blood samples from patients were fractionated to obtain the RNA associated with DNA as a R-loop structure. The higher amount of TERRA levels attached with each chromosome end was found with psoriasis patients in blood and skin. In addition to telomeric TERRA, we evidenced accumulation of others non-coding RNA, such as non-telomeric TERRA and centromeric transcripts. Increased levels of non-coding RNAs attached to DNA correlates with a decreased in Ribonuclease HII (RNase-HII) transcript which means that overall unresolved DNA-RNA hybrids can ultimately weaken DNA and cause skin lesions. Since the genome is actively transcribed, cellular RNase-HII is essential for removing RNA from the DNA-RNA hybrid in controls of genome stability and epigenome shaping and can be used as a causal prognostic marker in patients with psoriasis.
Keywords: RNA–DNA hybrid; RNase HII; TERRA; cancer; centromeres; epigenetics; non-coding RNAs; psoriasis; telomere length.