A long non-coding RNA as a direct vitamin D target transcribed from the antisense strand of the human HSD17B2 locus

Vitamin D (VD) exerts a wide variety of actions via gene regulation mediated by the nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR) under physiological and pathological settings. However, the known target genes of VDR appear unlikely to account for all VD actions. We used in silico and transcriptomic approaches in human cell lines to search for non-coding RNAs transcriptionally regulated by VD directly. Four long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), but no microRNAs (miRNAs), were found, supported by the presence of consensus VDR-binding motifs in the coding regions. One of these lncRNAs (AS-HSD17β2) is transcribed from the antisense strand of the HSD17β2 locus, which is also a direct VD target. AS-HSD17β2 attenuated HSD17β2 expression. Thus, AS-HSD17β2 represents a direct lncRNA target of VD.