Emergence of protein-coding enhancer RNAs in primate evolution

Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) are short, unstable RNA polymerase II transcripts from active enhancers processed by the Integrator complex. Once considered noncoding, recent work from Vlasov et al. shows that a subset of eRNAs contain open reading frames translated into arginine-rich proteins with exquisite primate specificity, redefining enhancer output and function.