Abstract
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which represent a new frontier in molecular biology, play important roles in regulating gene expression at epigenetic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. More and more lncRNAs have been found to play important roles in normal cell physiological activities, and participate in the development of varieties of tumors and other diseases. Previously, we have only been able to determine the function of lncRNAs through multiple mechanisms, including genetic imprinting, chromatin remodeling, splicing regulation, mRNA decay, and translational regulation. Application of technological advances to research into the function of lncRNAs is extremely important. The major tools for exploring lncRNAs include microarrays, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), Northern blotting, real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), RNA interference (RNAi), RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP), chromatin isolation by RNA purification (ChIRP), crosslinking-immunopurification (CLIP), and bioinformatic prediction. In this review, we highlight the functions of lncRNAs, and advanced methods to research lncRNA-protein interactions.
Highlights
Long non-coding RNAs, which represent a new frontier in molecular biology, play important roles in regulating gene expression at epigenetic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels
Long non-coding RNAs, which are widely distributed in mammals, are a class of RNA molecules with more than 200 bases that function as RNAs with little or no protein-coding capacity [1]
Unlike protein-coding genes, which arise by a process of wholesale or partial duplication and subsequent sequence divergence, most Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) exhibit a low degree of evolutionary constraint and evolve very differently [38]
Summary
As with the vast majority of gene transcripts, lncRNAs are mRNA-like transcripts ranging from 200 nucleotides (nt). It has been identified that the exons and promoter of the Xist gene derive from the protein-coding gene Lnx3 [39]; (ii) chromosomal rearrangements could cause lncRNAs to emerge from previously untranscribed sequences; (iii) retro-transposition of ncRNA in the duplication process can generate a reverse transcription gene or a retropseudogene; (iv) local tandem repeat sequences may generate a new lncRNA This phenomenon is observed in the 5′ regions of Kcnq1ot and Xist transcripts; (v) insertion of a transposable element can generate lncRNAs, such as the transcripts of brain cytoplasmic RNA 1 (BC1) and brain cytoplasmic RNA 200-nucleotide (BC200). LncRNAs regulate gene expression at three levels: epigenetics, transcriptional regulation and post-transcriptional regulation [40]
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