Mechanisms and functions of lncRNAs linked to autoimmune disease risk alleles.

Abstract

Recent advances in human genomics technologies have helped uncover genetic risk alleles for many complex autoimmune diseases. Intriguingly, over 90% of genome-wide association study (GWAS) risk alleles reside within the non-coding regions of the genome. An emerging new frontier of functional and mechanistic studies have shed light on the functional relevance of risk alleles that lie within long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Here, we review the mechanisms and functional implications of five evolutionarily conserved lncRNAs that display risk allele association with highly prevalent autoimmune diseases.