Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America.
Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America.
Biochim Biophys Acta Gene Regul Mech. 2020 Apr;1863(4):194419. doi: 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2019.194419. Epub 2019 Sep 2.
Next-generation sequencing has provided a more complete picture of the composition of the human transcriptome indicating that much of the "blueprint" is a vastness of poorly understood non-protein-coding transcripts. This includes a newly identified class of genes called long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). The lack of sequence conservation for lncRNAs across species meant that their biological importance was initially met with some skepticism. LncRNAs mediate their functions through interactions with proteins, RNA, DNA, or a combination of these. Their functions can often be dictated by their localization, sequence, and/or secondary structure. Here we provide a review of the approaches typically adopted to study the complexity of these genes with an emphasis on recent discoveries within the innate immune field. Finally, we discuss the challenges, as well as the emergence of new technologies that will continue to move this field forward and provide greater insight into the biological importance of this class of genes. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: ncRNA in control of gene expression edited by Kotb Abdelmohsen.
下一代测序技术提供了更完整的人类转录组组成图，表明大部分“蓝图”是大量尚未被充分理解的非蛋白编码转录本。这包括一类新鉴定的基因，称为长非编码 RNA (lncRNA)。lncRNA 在物种间缺乏序列保守性，这意味着它们的生物学重要性最初受到了一些质疑。lncRNA 通过与蛋白质、RNA、DNA 或它们的组合相互作用来发挥其功能。它们的功能通常可以由其定位、序列和/或二级结构来决定。在这里，我们综述了通常采用的研究这些基因复杂性的方法，重点介绍了先天免疫领域的最新发现。最后，我们讨论了挑战，以及新技术的出现，这些将继续推动这一领域的发展，并更深入地了解这一类基因的生物学重要性。本文是由 Kotb Abdelmohsen 编辑的特刊“ncRNA 在基因表达调控中的作用”的一部分。
