Role of Non-coding RNAs and Untranslated RNA Regions in Disease
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2022) | Viewed by 7473
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The dysregulated expression of critical genes is one of the driving forces that transforms a normal cell into a cancer cell. In recent years, it has become clear that only 1–2% of the mammalian transcriptome codes for proteins. The remainder of the transcriptome comprises noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), which are frequently dysregulated in cancer, suggesting that they are of critical importance in disease pathogenesis. ncRNAs are classified into short ncRNAs such as microRNAs and piRNAs long ncRNAs such as lincRNAs and pseudogenes, and circular RNAs. In recent years, our understanding of ncRNA function has expanded exponentially, and they have been shown to regulate multiple aspects of gene regulation ranging from epigenetic, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and translational to post-translational control.
In addition to non-coding RNAs, protein-coding messenger RNAs (mRNAs) consist of 5’ and 3’ untranslated regions (UTRs), which flank their central protein-coding regions. These non-coding regions of protein-coding mRNAs harbor many regulatory sequences and structures such as AU-rich elements and microRNA response elements through which RNA-binding proteins and microRNAs modulate mRNA metabolism. Intriguingly, recent studies have suggested that these non-coding regions can control tissue-specific transcript expression and may play key roles in cancer pathogenesis.
A better understanding of non-coding RNA biology will lead to deeper insights into carcinogenesis, and may facilitate the discovery of novel oncogenes and/or tumor suppressors, in turn providing potential diagnostic or therapeutic targets.
Dr. Yvonne Tay
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- non-coding RNAs
- microRNAs
- circular RNAs
- untranslated regions
- cancer
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