Vanhée-Brossollet C, Vaquero C
UPR0415, ICGM, 22 rue Méchain, 75014, Paris, France.
Gene. 1998 Apr 28;211(1):1-9. doi: 10.1016/s0378-1119(98)00093-6.
The existence of naturally occurring antisense RNAs has been illustrated, in eukaryotes, by an increasing number of reports. The following review presents the major findings in this field, with a special focus on the regulation of gene expression exerted by endogenous complementary transcripts. A large variety of eukaryotic organisms, contains antisense transcripts. Moreover, the great diversity of genetic loci encoding overlapping sense and antisense RNAs suggests that such transcripts may be involved in numerous biological functions, such as control of development, adaptative response. viral infection. The regulation of gene expression by endogenous antisense RNAs seems of general importance in eukaryotes as already established in prokaryotes: it is likely to be involved in the control of various biological functions and to play a role in the development of pathological situations. Several experimental evidences for coupled, balanced or unbalanced expression of sense and antisense RNAs suggest that antisense transcripts may govern the expression of their sense counterparts. Furthermore, documented examples indicate that this control may be exerted at many levels of gene expression (transcription, maturation, transport, stability and translation). This review also addresses the underlying molecular mechanisms of antisense regulation and presents the current mechanistic hypotheses.
在真核生物中，越来越多的报道证实了天然存在的反义RNA的存在。以下综述介绍了该领域的主要发现，特别关注内源性互补转录本对基因表达的调控。各种各样的真核生物都含有反义转录本。此外，编码重叠正义和反义RNA的基因座的巨大多样性表明，此类转录本可能参与众多生物学功能，如发育控制、适应性反应、病毒感染。正如在原核生物中已经确立的那样，内源性反义RNA对基因表达的调控在真核生物中似乎具有普遍重要性：它可能参与各种生物学功能的控制，并在病理情况的发展中发挥作用。关于正义和反义RNA的偶联、平衡或不平衡表达的若干实验证据表明，反义转录本可能控制其正义对应物的表达。此外，有记录的例子表明，这种控制可能在基因表达的许多水平（转录、成熟、运输、稳定性和翻译）上发挥作用。本综述还探讨了反义调控的潜在分子机制，并提出了当前的机制假说。
