Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Molecular Biology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai). 2012 Jan;44(1):40-7. doi: 10.1093/abbs/gmr112.
Traditionally, we know that genomic DNA will produce transcripts named messenger RNA and then translate into protein following the instruction of genetic central dogma, and RNA works here as a pass-by messenger. Now increasing evidence shows that RNA is a key regulator as well as a message transmitter. It is discovered by next-generation sequencing techniques that most genomic DNA are generally transcribed to non-coding RNA, highly beyond the percentage of coding mRNA. These non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), belonging to several groups, have critical roles in many cellular processes, expanding our understanding of the RNA world. We review here the different categories of ncRNA according to genome location and how ncRNAs guide and recruit chromatin modification complex to specific loci of genome to modulate gene expression by affecting chromatin state.
传统上，我们知道基因组 DNA 将产生名为信使 RNA 的转录本，然后根据遗传中心法则翻译成蛋白质，而 RNA 在这里充当过客信使。现在越来越多的证据表明，RNA 既是关键调控因子，也是信息传递者。通过下一代测序技术发现，大多数基因组 DNA 通常转录为非编码 RNA，远超过编码 mRNA 的比例。这些非编码 RNA（ncRNA）属于几个组，在许多细胞过程中具有关键作用，扩大了我们对 RNA 世界的理解。我们在这里根据基因组位置综述了不同类别的 ncRNA，以及 ncRNA 如何指导和招募染色质修饰复合物到基因组的特定位置，通过影响染色质状态来调节基因表达。
