Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is a type of RNA transcript that is over 200 nucleotides long and lacks protein-coding potential. Like messenger RNA (mRNA), lncRNA is transcribed mainly by RNA polymerase II and undergoes post-transcriptional modifications (Nojima and Proudfoot, 2022). The use of high-throughput RNA transcript sequencing has allowed for identifying numerous lncRNAs. Despite being regarded as “junk” transcripts for a long time, the functions of lncRNAs are still not fully understood. However, many functional lncRNAs have been characterized in recent decades, demonstrating novel gene regulatory patterns. They have ushered in a new paradigm in the field (Rinn and Chang, 2012). Loss-of-function studies are a critical method for investigating the function of lncRNAs in vitro and in vivo. While deleting the promoter and first exon of lncRNA has been extensively utilized and demonstrated efficacy in deactivating lncRNA function, the intricate nature of lncRNA gene loci and their interactions with nearby or overlapping genes pose challenges in achieving precise lncRNA knockouts without affecting the expression of nearby or overlapping genes (Li Z. et al., 2021). In this article, we first introduce the biogenesis and central functional patterns of lncRNAs. We then summarize the prevailing techniques and strategies for knocking out or inactivating lncRNA function. Finally, we discuss the future directions for lncRNA functional inactivation and provide insights into practical approaches aimed at expediting lncRNA functional studies, from individual studies to high-throughput screening.

Most lncRNAs are transcribed by RNA polymerase II, which undergoes post-transcriptional modifications such as 5′capping, 3′poly(A) tailing, and intron splicing (Rinn and Chang, 2012). LncRNAs can perform biological functions via various mechanisms, either by being exported to the cytoplasm or retained within the nucleus (Rinn and Chang, 2012). LncRNAs can be categorized into two classes based on their role: sequence-dependent and sequence-independent. The sequence-dependent role of lncRNAs, known as ceRNA (competing endogenous RNA), has been well-studied. LncRNAs can bind with microRNAs via Watson-Crick base-pairing, acting as a “miRNA sponge” to neutralize targeting miRNA carrying a specific “seed region.” (Conte et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2022). As a result, the mRNA targeted by the endogenous miRNA is “released” from miRNA repression, leading to the recovery of translational levels (Tay et al., 2014). The contribution of ceRNA to gene regulation has been controversial due to the promiscuous miRNA-lncRNA-mRNA interplay, which makes quantitative analysis difficult (Tay et al., 2014). Another important sequence-dependent function of lncRNAs is serving as a “guide.” In this mechanism, a partial sequence on the lncRNA can bind to genomic DNA via sequence-specific pairing.

In contrast, another part of the lncRNA can form a specific tertiary structure and associate with a protein via electrostatic force. A well-known example of this category is the small guide RNA (sgRNA) and Cas proteins (Jinek et al., 2012; Cong et al., 2013), with derivatives such as prime editing guide RNA (pegRNA) and gene-modified prime editors (Anzalone et al., 2019; Anzalone et al., 2020). Another sequence-dependent function of lncRNAs is encoding small or micro peptides. For instance, Anderson et al. discovered that the LINC00948 lncRNA encodes a peptide called MLN, which interacts with SERCA to regulate the phenotype in skeletal muscle (Anderson et al., 2015).

Most characterized lncRNAs function sequence independently by forming tertiary structures and interacting with proteins as a scaffold (Yoon et al., 2013; Andric and Rougemaille, 2021). Dozens of protein partners of lncRNAs have been reported (Gerstberger et al., 2014), among which the PRC2 (Polycomb Repressive Complex 2) complex has been well-studied. The PRC2 core complex consists of EED, SUZ12, EZH1, EZH2, etc. (Blackledge and Klose, 2021). LncRNAs such as XIST, HOTAIR, ANRIL, etc., interact with PRC2 components in the nucleus, regulating H3K27 methylation and gene silencing. These lncRNAs play an essential role in dosage compensation, imprinting, and histone accessibility (Yoon et al., 2013). LncRNAs can also associate with proteins in the cytosol. For example, the vascular smooth muscle cell and endothelial cell-enriched lncRNA, SENCR, interacts with cytoskeletal-associated protein (CKAP4) and modulates the surface localization of cadherin 5 (CDH5) (Lyu et al., 2019). This interaction plays a critical role in maintaining homeostasis and integrity of the vascular endothelial monolayer (Lyu et al., 2019). Another noteworthy lncRNA functioning pattern is in-cis interacting lncRNA. The lncRNA Upperhand (Uph) and the protein-coding gene Hand2 localize on chromosome 8 in the mouse genome in a divergent direction (Anderson et al., 2016). There is merely a 150 bp gap between the transcription start site (TSS) between Uph and Hand2. Uph transcription processing establishes a permissive chromatin status and therefore benefits Hand2 transcription initiation. The blockade of Uph transcription, but not the knockdown of Uph transcripts, compromises Hand2 expression, suggesting that Uph plays an important role in Hand2 transcription regulation (Anderson et al., 2016).

Most lncRNAs are multi-exons and undergo maturation processes like mRNAs: transcribed by the RNA polymerase II, primary lncRNA transcripts are 5′capped, 3′polyadenylated, and introns are removed (St Laurent et al., 2015). Different from mRNAs exported to the cytoplasm for protein synthesis, a portion of lncRNAs retained in the nucleus and play essential roles in gene regulation (St Laurent et al., 2015). For example, the inactive X chromosome-specific transcript, XIST, was discovered in the cell nucleus that dominates the X-inactivation by silencing one of the two female X chromosomes and preventing the dosage effect (Chao et al., 2002; Lee, 2012). Here arises a puzzle about how lncRNAs retained in the cell nucleus, unlike their protein-coding counterparts. Yin et al. reported that U1 snRNP regulates the chromatin retention of non-coding RNAs and revealed that mutation of the 3′splicing site causes nuclear localization and performs cis-regulation on mRNA transcription (Yin et al., 2020). However, the regulatory function of nuclear lncRNAs is far from clear, partially attributed to the lack of understanding of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) since RBPs mediate most lncRNA functions. It is estimated that there are ∼1,500 RBPs encoded by the human genome (Gerstberger et al., 2014), whereas the actual number could be significantly more. Lately, the genome-scale investigation of RNA-binding proteins unveiled the regulatory pattern of lncRNA-protein, suggesting a novel paradigm for lncRNA study (Xiao et al., 2019; Van Nostrand et al., 2020).

Bearing multiple introns makes lncRNA occupy a large piece of genomic DNA space for accommodating full-length lncRNA. The longer the lncRNA primary transcript is, the more likely it overlaps and intervenes with another mRNA, lncRNA, or snoRNA coding sequence. Thus, lncRNAs were categorized into long intergenic non-coding RNA, head-to-head overlap, head-to-head non-overlap, tail-to-tail overlap, tail-to-tail non-overlap, embedded, intronic, and complicated form lncRNA according to the relative genomic localization of lncRNA to the nearby protein-coding gene (Figure 1). Due to the complexity of the genomic locus of lncRNAs, it is a big challenge to inactive a target lncRNA without perturbing adjacent or overlapped transcript counterparts, hampering the functional study of lncRNAs.

Multiple strategies have been established to inactivate the lncRNA function via inheritable and uninheritable approaches, including but not limited to siRNA duplex silencing, antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) inhibition, and CRISPR-based genome editing (Miano et al., 2019). CRISPR-based genome editing is the primary technique resolution to create stable and transferrable lncRNA knockout cell lines or animals. Here, we summarized the overall knockout or knockdown strategies and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

LncRNAs are essential regulatory molecules in cells, but the majority of lncRNAs’ biological functions are unknown. This is largely due to the fact that current functional studies are restricted to analyzing individual lncRNAs, which is laborious and inefficient. In recent years, the CRISPR-based genome-scale knockout screening and transcriptional activation method for protein-coding genes were established (Fox et al., 2018). Subsequently, the CRISPR-based genome-scale deletion screening of human lncRNAs was also conducted (Zhu et al., 2016). Due to technical limitations, these early initiatives can only investigate intergenic lncRNAs and not natural antisense lncRNAs, since large-piece DNA deletion result in unintended protein-coding or non-coding RNA expression intervention and lead to unpredictable effects. The emergence of precise and genome-wide lncRNA functional knockout methodology would no doubt expedite the understanding of lncRNA more efficiently. It will assist researchers to comprehend the importance of non-coding RNAs in various biological and pathological processes and could also be utilized for developing potential therapeutical interventions.

Different from proteins, the biological function of lncRNAs is mainly exerted via interacting with proteins (Kopp and Mendell, 2018). Rinn et al. introduced diverse patterns of lncRNAs functioning with their protein partners, including decoy, scaffold, guide, and enhancer (Rinn and Chang, 2012). Nevertheless, the association between lncRNA and protein is promiscuous since the RNA-protein interaction is mediated by the non-covalent bond and depended on the RNA tertiary structure, which is flexible (Gruber et al., 2008; Ferre et al., 2016). The tertiary structure of RNA is more dynamic than that of proteins and is influenced by the transcriptome, interacting proteins, ion strength, and so on (Jaeger et al., 1989; Li and Aviran, 2018). It is difficult and pointless to determine the “true” RNA tertiary structure of a target lncRNA in the complex biophysical environment in living cells because different cell types exhibit distinct transcriptomes and proteomes (Li and Aviran, 2018; Sanchez de Groot et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2021). However, we can elucidate the biological function of RNA via the aspect of the interacting proteins, which can be accomplished by a variety of technical resolutions (McHugh et al., 2014; Ramanathan et al., 2019). For example, the PAR-CLIP (photoactivatable ribonucleoside enhanced crosslinked immunoprecipitation) is able to pinpoint the exact nucleotides on RNA transcripts that are directly interacting with binding proteins by in vivo labeling nascent RNAs with photoreactive nucleosides 4-thiouridine (4-SU) or 6-thioguanosine (6SG) (Hafner et al., 2010). The information on direct protein-binding nucleotides revealed by PAR-CLIP could also be utilized for calculating the potential RNA tertiary structure in the future.

The lncRNA expression is sophisticatedly coordinated in a spatiotemporal manner. There are two fundamental components of spatiotemporal regulation: where and when. LncRNAs are expressed in different cells, especially during development. For instance, Kim and colleagues reported that lncRNA Moshe is detected in the cardiac mesoderm stage (E8.5 to E9.5) along with the expression of Gata6, and continues to be expressed and increases in the atrioventricular septum (E12.5) (Kim et al., 2021). Knock-down of Moshe causes transcriptional suppression of Nkx2.5 and increases the expression of second heart field (SHF) lineage genes, which may play a critical role in ASD. Another level of spatial expression of lncRNAs is subcellular localization. LncRNAs exhibit distinguished biological functional and underlying mechanisms in different cell compartments. Localized lncRNAs in the cell nucleus are primarily involved in epigenetic and transcriptional regulation, whereas cytoplasmic lncRNAs are typically involved in post-transcriptional regulation, protein-protein interactions, etc. (Yao et al., 2019; Gao et al., 2020). Accordingly, a new technique, APEX-seq, was developed which can dissect the function of lncRNA in different subcellar localizations, enabling a comprehensive understanding of RNA spatiotemporal regulation (Fazal et al., 2019).

Last, but not least, the expanding range of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) also broadens our view of lncRNA functioning. RBPs are proteins containing one or more RNA binding domains (RBDs) that can directly interact with RNA strands and alter their structure and function (Hentze et al., 2018). Several hundred RBPs have been identified over the years, but studies have found RBPs without conventional RBDs, suggesting the number of RBPs is underestimated (Hentze and Argos, 1991; Hentze, 1994). Notably, the unconventional RBPs introduce the subject of phase condensation or phase separation, another crucial phenomenon in cells. A growing body of research has shown that lncRNAs and unconventional RBPs, such as paraspeckles in the nucleus and processing bodies in the cytoplasm, are crucial for organizing nonmembrane organelles and controlling gene expression (Fox et al., 2018; Elguindy and Mendell, 2021; Hirose et al., 2023). The role of lncRNA in the formation of non-membrane organelles and how it supports specific biological processes remain largely unknown. Thus, a comprehensive multi-omics strategy is required to reveal the spatiotemporal function of lncRNA in various biological and pathological processes.