The recent advent of high-throughput approaches has revealed widespread transcription of the human genome, leading to a new appreciation of transcription regulation, especially from noncoding regions. Distinct from most coding and small noncoding RNAs, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are generally expressed at low levels, are less conserved and lack protein-coding capacity. These intrinsic features of lncRNAs have not only hampered ...

from The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Medicine The regulation of gene activity belongs to the most challenging questions of modern biology. So far, scientists know only a few mechanisms to switch single genes on or off. Now, an international team of scientists from the US, Germany, and Spain has described a new mode to regulate gene activity. In the ...

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key regulators of diverse biological processes such as transcriptional regulation, cell growth and differentiation. Previous studies have demonstrated that the lncRNA-ANCR (anti-differentiation ncRNA) is required to maintain the undifferentiated cell state within the epidermis. However, little is known about whether ANCR regulates osteoblast differentiation. In this study, researchers at the Dental Clinic of Xuhui District, ...

from The Scientist Long non-protein-coding RNA (lncRNA) sequences are often transcribed from the opposite, or antisense, strand of a protein coding gene. In the past few years, research has shown that these lncRNAs play a number of regulatory roles in the cell. For example, after they are transcribed (pictured here) lncRNAs can direct epigenetic modification by becoming associated with methyltransferases—enzymes ...

Functional RNA molecules participate in numerous biological processes, ranging from gene regulation to protein synthesis. Analysis of functional RNA motifs and elements in RNA sequences can obtain useful information for deciphering RNA regulatory mechanisms. A previous version, RegRNA, is widely used in the identification of regulatory motifs, and this work extends it by incorporating more comprehensive and updated data sources ...

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are pervasively transcribed in the genome and are emerging as new players in tumorigenesis due to their various functions in transcriptional, posttranscriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation. LncRNAs are deregulated in a number of cancers, demonstrating both oncogenic and tumor suppressive roles, thus suggesting their aberrant expression may be a substantial contributor in cancer development. ...

PTEN is a tumor-suppressor gene that has been shown to be under the regulatory control of a PTEN pseudogene expressed noncoding RNA, PTENpg1. Here, researchers at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden characterize a previously unidentified PTENpg1-encoded antisense RNA (asRNA), which regulates PTEN transcription and PTEN mRNA stability. They found two PTENpg1 asRNA isoforms, α and β. The α isoform functions in trans, ...

Target mimicry is a recently identified regulatory mechanism for microRNA functions in plants in which the decoy RNAs bind to microRNAs via sequence complementary therefore to block the interaction between microRNAs and their authentic targets. Both endogenous decoy RNAs (microRNA target mimics) and engineered artificial RNAs can induce target mimicry effects. Yet until now, only the IPS1 (Induced by Phosphate ...

Although the function and mechanism of action of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) is still not completely known, studies have shown their potential role in the control of gene expression and regulation, in cellular proliferation and invasiveness at the transcriptional level via multiple mechanisms. Recently, colon cancer associated transcript 1 (CCAT1) lncRNA was found to be expressed in colorectal cancer (CRC) ...

Transcription by RNA Pol II is a tightly controlled process that is critical to normal cellular metabolism. Understanding how transcriptional regulation is orchestrated has mainly involved identifying and characterizing proteins that function as transcription factors. During the past decade, however, an increasing number of lncRNAs have been identified as transcriptional regulators. This revelation has spurred new discoveries, novel techniques and ...