SMC3 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: The 24 RIP-Seq-derived AUF-1 targets shared by the two COPD datasets even more clearly are representative, for the first time in a human lung disease, of the complex gene regulatory function AUF-1 exerts, previously characterized by the preclinical models (43–45, 47): in fact a large part of these genes (BPTF, CEBP2, CHD1, DHX36, PBRM1, SETX, SF3A2, SMC3, SON) regulate transcription, genomic stability, telomere maintenance, translation and RNA metabolism with likely impact on cell cycle progression, apoptosis, DNA damage repair.