Non-coding RNA

Compare untranslated regions.
The roles of non-coding RNAs: Ribonucleoproteins are shown in red, non-coding RNAs in blue.

A non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is a functional RNA molecule that is not translated into a protein. The DNA sequence from which a functional non-coding RNA is transcribed is often called an RNA gene. Abundant and functionally important types of non-coding RNAs include transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), as well as small RNAs such as microRNAs, siRNAs, piRNAs, snoRNAs, snRNAs, exRNAs, scaRNAs and the long ncRNAs such as Xist and HOTAIR.

The number of non-coding RNAs within the human genome is unknown; however, recent transcriptomic and bioinformatic studies suggest that there are thousands of non-coding transcripts.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Many of the newly identified ncRNAs have unknown functions, if any.[8] There is no consensus on how much of non-coding transcription is functional: some believe most ncRNAs to be non-functional "junk RNA", spurious transcriptions,[9][10] while others expect that many non-coding transcripts have functions to be discovered.[11][12]

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  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference pmid17571346 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  5. ^ Morris KV, ed. (2012). Non-coding RNAs and Epigenetic Regulation of Gene Expression: Drivers of Natural Selection. Caister Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-904455-94-3.
  6. ^ Shahrouki P, Larsson E (2012). "The non-coding oncogene: a case of missing DNA evidence?". Frontiers in Genetics. 3: 170. doi:10.3389/fgene.2012.00170. PMC 3439828. PMID 22988449.
  7. ^ van Bakel H, Nislow C, Blencowe BJ, Hughes TR (May 2010). Eddy SR (ed.). "Most "dark matter" transcripts are associated with known genes". PLOS Biology. 8 (5): e1000371. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000371. PMC 2872640. PMID 20502517.
  8. ^ Hüttenhofer A, Schattner P, Polacek N (May 2005). "Non-coding RNAs: hope or hype?". Trends in Genetics. 21 (5): 289–297. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2005.03.007. PMID 15851066.
  9. ^ Brosius J (May 2005). "Waste not, want not--transcript excess in multicellular eukaryotes". Trends in Genetics. 21 (5): 287–288. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2005.02.014. PMID 15851065.
  10. ^ Palazzo AF, Lee ES (2015). "Non-coding RNA: what is functional and what is junk?". Frontiers in Genetics. 6: 2. doi:10.3389/fgene.2015.00002. PMC 4306305. PMID 25674102.
  11. ^ Mattick J, Amaral P (2022). RNA, The Epicenter of Genetic Information : A New Understanding of Molecular Biology. CRC Press. ISBN 9780367623920.
  12. ^ Lee H, Zhang Z, Krause HM (December 2019). "Long Noncoding RNAs and Repetitive Elements: Junk or Intimate Evolutionary Partners?". Trends in Genetics. 35 (12): 892–902. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2019.09.006. PMID 31662190. S2CID 204975291.