Abstract
Over the last decade, the long accepted dogma that heterochromatin is silent has been challenged by increasing evidence of active transcription in these apocryphally annotated quiescent regions of the genome. The recent discovery of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) originating from, or localizing to, centromeres, pericentromeres, and telomeres (ie, constitutive heterochromatin) suggest a potential role for ncRNAs in genome integrity. This new paradigm suggests that ncRNAs may recruit chromatin-binding factors, stabilize the higher order folded state of the chromatin fiber, and participate in regulation of processes such as transcription-mediated nucleosome assembly. Thus, identifying, purifying, and elucidating the function of ncRNAs has the potential to provide key insights into genome organization and is currently a topic of intense experimental investigation.