Human-specific lncRNAs contributed critically to human evolution by distinctly regulating gene expression

ABSTRACT What genes and regulatory sequences critically differentiate modern humans from apes and archaic humans, which share highly similar genomes but show distinct phenotypes, has puzzled researchers for decades. Previous studies examined species-specific protein-coding genes and related regulatory sequences, revealing that birth, loss, and changes in these genes and sequences can drive speciation and evolution. However, investigations of species-specific lncRNA genes and related regulatory sequences, which regulate substantial genes, remain limited. We identified human-specific (HS) lncRNAs from GENCODE-annotated human lncRNAs, predicted their DNA binding domains (DBDs) and binding sites (DBSs), analyzed DBS sequences in modern humans (CEU, CHB, and YRI), archaic humans (Altai Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Vindija Neanderthals), and chimpanzees, and investigated how HS lncRNAs and their DBSs have influenced gene expression in archaic and modern humans. Our results suggest that these lncRNAs and DBSs have substantially reshaped gene expression. This reshaping has evolved continuously from archaic to modern humans, enabling humans to adapt to new environments and lifestyles, promoting brain evolution, and resulting in cross-population differences. The parallel analysis of gene expression in GTEx tissues by HS TFs and their DBSs indicates that HS lncRNAs have reshaped gene expression in the brain more significantly than HS TFs.