School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Centre for Cancer Biology, An Alliance of SA Pathology and University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Sep 22;22(19):10193. doi: 10.3390/ijms221910193.
The widespread implementation of mass sequencing has revealed a diverse landscape of small RNAs derived from larger precursors. Whilst many of these are likely to be byproducts of degradation, there are nevertheless metabolically stable fragments derived from tRNAs, rRNAs, snoRNAs, and other non-coding RNA, with a number of examples of the production of such fragments being conserved across species. Coupled with specific interactions to RNA-binding proteins and a growing number of experimentally reported examples suggesting function, a case is emerging whereby the biological significance of small non-coding RNAs extends far beyond miRNAs and piRNAs. Related to this, a similarly complex picture is emerging of non-canonical roles for the non-coding precursors, such as for snoRNAs that are also implicated in such areas as the silencing of gene expression and the regulation of alternative splicing. This is in addition to a body of literature describing snoRNAs as an additional source of miRNA-like regulators. This review seeks to highlight emerging roles for such non-coding RNA, focusing specifically on "new" roles for snoRNAs and the small fragments derived from them.
大规模测序的广泛应用揭示了源于较大前体的多种小 RNA 景观。虽然其中许多可能是降解的副产物，但仍有来自 tRNA、rRNA、snoRNA 和其他非编码 RNA 的代谢稳定片段，其中一些片段的产生在物种间是保守的。加上与 RNA 结合蛋白的特异性相互作用，以及越来越多的实验报道的功能示例，小非编码 RNA 的生物学意义超出了 miRNA 和 piRNA 的范围。与此相关的是，非编码前体的非典型作用也出现了类似复杂的情况，例如 snoRNA 也涉及基因表达沉默和选择性剪接的调节等领域。此外，还有大量文献将 snoRNA 描述为 miRNA 样调节剂的另一个来源。本文综述旨在强调这些非编码 RNA 的新作用，特别是 snoRNA 和它们衍生的小片段的“新”作用。
