Insulin-like growth factor 2 antisense RNA 1 (IGF2-AS)

Insulin-like growth factor 2 antisense RNA 1 (IGF2-AS, also known as IGF2-AS1 or PEG8) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that is expressed from the IGF2-AS gene locus on human chromosome 11, in antisense orientation to the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) gene[2]. IGF2-AS is an imprinted transcript, meaning it is expressed in a parent-of-origin–specific manner (typically paternally expressed)[2]. The transcript is predicted to be non-coding in humans, as the putative protein is not conserved and any attempted translation is likely to be rapidly degraded via the nonsense-mediated decay pathway[2]. IGF2-AS has been reported to be expressed in various tumors and has a proposed function as a regulator of IGF2 expression. Experimental evidence in mouse and human systems demonstrates that analogous antisense transcripts (e.g., 91H RNA in mouse) can activate or repress IGF2 gene expression, influencing chromatin architecture and promoter usage, especially within development and certain cancers[1][5]. The transcript appears to be involved in long-range epigenetic regulation, likely impacting the imprinting control region (ICR) methylation and enhancer-promoter interactions at the IGF2/H19 locus[1][3]. Alternative splicing produces multiple transcript variants[2]. There is currently no evidence IGF2-AS functions as a classical therapeutic target (such as a receptor, enzyme, or transporter), nor are there any known drugs acting upon it. Potential disease associations are primarily related to cancer biology, given its modulation of the oncogenic IGF2 axis[2][1]. The main recognized roles are regulatory rather than direct enzymatic, ligand, or receptor action.

Other names

IGF2-ASIGF2-AS1IGF2ASPEG8IGF2 antisense RNAIGF2 antisense RNA 1insulin-like growth factor 2 antisense 1 (non-protein coding)insulin-like growth factor II, antisensePEG8/IGF2AS