from I - Discovery of microRNAs in various organisms
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 August 2009
Introduction
The central dogma of molecular biology is that genomic DNA is transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA) which is translated into proteins. This dogma has recently been challenged because some segments of the DNA transcribed into the mRNA precursor (pre-mRNA) are not necessarily translated into proteins. Instead, these RNAs regulate the expression of other genes. The segments of the DNA which function directly as regulatory RNAs rather than coding for protein products are called non-coding RNAs. In the human genome, the vast majority (nearly 95%) of DNA is of the non-coding variety. Frequently diseases are associated with malfunction of the non-coding RNA. We present here the historical background and significance of non-coding RNA research, with a particular eye to the current status of work on the microRNAs and future prospects for development of artificial intronic microRNAs (miRNAs). These miRNAs can play critical roles in development, protein secretion, and gene regulation. Some of them are naturally occurring antisense and hairpin RNAs whereas others have more complex structures. To understand the diseases caused by dysregulation of these miRNAs, a tissue-specific expression system is needed to recreate the function and mechanism of individual miRNA in vitro and in vivo.
Non-coding RNAs
The non-coding RNA (ncRNA) can be defined as segments of a RNA molecule that are not translated into a protein, but function in modulating the synthesis of proteins.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.