Niland Courtney N, Merry Callie R, Khalil Ahmad M
Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Cleveland, OH, USA.
Front Genet. 2012 Feb 27;3:25. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2012.00025. eCollection 2012.
The recent discovery of thousands of long non-coding (lnc)RNAs in the human genome has prompted investigation of the potential roles of these molecules in human biology and medicine. Indeed, it is now well documented that many lncRNAs are involved in key biological processes, including dosage compensation, genomic imprinting, chromatin regulation, alternative splicing of pre-mRNA, nuclear organization; and potentially many other biological processes, which are yet to be elucidated. Recently, a number of studies have also reported that lncRNAs are dysregulated in a number of human diseases, including several cancers and neurological disorders. Although many of these studies have fallen short of implicating lncRNAs as causative, they suggest potential roles that warrant further in depth investigations. In this review, we discuss the current state of knowledge regarding the roles of lncRNAs in cancer and neurological disorders, and suggest potential future directions in this rapidly emerging field.
人类基因组中数千种长链非编码（lnc）RNA的近期发现，促使人们对这些分子在人类生物学和医学中的潜在作用展开研究。事实上，现在已有充分证据表明，许多lncRNA参与关键生物学过程，包括剂量补偿、基因组印记、染色质调控、前体mRNA的可变剪接、核组织；以及可能许多其他尚未阐明的生物学过程。最近，一些研究还报告称lncRNA在多种人类疾病中表达失调，包括几种癌症和神经疾病。尽管这些研究中有许多未能将lncRNA认定为病因，但它们提示了一些潜在作用，值得进一步深入研究。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了关于lncRNA在癌症和神经疾病中作用的当前知识状态，并提出了这个快速发展领域未来可能的方向。
