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. 2014 Nov 18;3(11):e197. doi: 10.1038/mtna.2014.48

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Copyright © 2014 American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy

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Possible mechanisms of transcriptional gene silencing (TGS). (a) Small RNA is targeted to a promoter-associated transcript. Epigenetically active enzymes (histone deacetylases, histone methyltransferases and DNA methyltransferase 3) are recruited and their activity leads to histone modifications such as histone 3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2) and lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3). These histone modifications lead to the silencing of transcription and heterochromatin formation. (b) The small RNA can target the transcriptional start site (TSS) as such and prevent transcription by forming DNA:RNA triplexes.