scholarly journals Long Non-Coding RNAs in Insects

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1118
Author(s):  
Chhavi Choudhary ◽  
Shivasmi Sharma ◽  
Keshav Kumar Meghwanshi ◽  
Smit Patel ◽  
Prachi Mehta ◽  
...  

Only a small subset of all the transcribed RNAs are used as a template for protein translation, whereas RNA molecules that are not translated play a very important role as regulatory non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Besides traditionally known RNAs (ribosomal and transfer RNAs), ncRNAs also include small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The lncRNAs, which were initially thought to be junk, have gained a great deal attention because of their regulatory roles in diverse biological processes in animals and plants. Insects are the most abundant and diverse group of animals on this planet. Recent studies have demonstrated the role of lncRNAs in almost all aspects of insect development, reproduction, and genetic plasticity. In this review, we describe the function and molecular mechanisms of the mode of action of different insect lncRNAs discovered up to date.

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhangli Su ◽  
Briana Wilson ◽  
Pankaj Kumar ◽  
Anindya Dutta

As one of the most abundant and conserved RNA species, transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are well known for their role in reading the codons on messenger RNAs and translating them into proteins. In this review, we discuss the noncanonical functions of tRNAs. These include tRNAs as precursors to novel small RNA molecules derived from tRNAs, also called tRNA-derived fragments, that are abundant across species and have diverse functions in different biological processes, including regulating protein translation, Argonaute-dependent gene silencing, and more. Furthermore, the role of tRNAs in biosynthesis and other regulatory pathways, including nutrient sensing, splicing, transcription, retroelement regulation, immune response, and apoptosis, is reviewed. Genome organization and sequence variation of tRNA genes are also discussed in light of their noncanonical functions. Lastly, we discuss the recent applications of tRNAs in genome editing and microbiome sequencing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 01 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15
Author(s):  
Imad Matouk

Increasing evidence has indicated that the non-coding RNA molecules play central roles in almost all biological processes and many pathological conditions including carcinogenesis. This review focuses on the pathological tumorigenic role of the first discovered long non-coding RNA gene called H19 and its pivotal contribution to the cancer axis of evil. H19 RNA utilizes a variety of mechanisms to perform its pathological function. Some key unanswered questions are presented by the end. Understanding the H19 RNA mechanisms of action will shed light into the class of long non-coding RNA which contains thousands of members mostly with unknown function and will help in delineating the pathological role played by at least some of them.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 2116
Author(s):  
Sonia Águila ◽  
Ascensión M. de los Reyes-García ◽  
María P. Fernández-Pérez ◽  
Laura Reguilón-Gallego ◽  
Laura Zapata-Martínez ◽  
...  

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are formed after neutrophils expelled their chromatin content in order to primarily capture and eliminate pathogens. However, given their characteristics due in part to DNA and different granular proteins, NETs may induce a procoagulant response linking inflammation and thrombosis. Unraveling NET formation molecular mechanisms as well as the intracellular elements that regulate them is relevant not only for basic knowledge but also to design diagnostic and therapeutic tools that may prevent their deleterious effects observed in several inflammatory pathologies (e.g., cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, cancer). Among the potential elements involved in NET formation, several studies have investigated the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) as important regulators of this process. miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that have been involved in the control of almost all physiological processes in animals and plants and that are associated with the development of several pathologies. In this review, we give an overview of the actual knowledge on NETs and their implication in pathology with a special focus in cardiovascular diseases. We also give a brief overview on miRNA biology to later focus on the different miRNAs implicated in NET formation and the perspectives opened by the presented data.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 902
Author(s):  
Eva Costanzi ◽  
Carolina Simioni ◽  
Gabriele Varano ◽  
Cinzia Brenna ◽  
Ilaria Conti ◽  
...  

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have attracted interest as mediators of intercellular communication following the discovery that EVs contain RNA molecules, including non-coding RNA (ncRNA). Growing evidence for the enrichment of peculiar RNA species in specific EV subtypes has been demonstrated. ncRNAs, transferred from donor cells to recipient cells, confer to EVs the feature to regulate the expression of genes involved in differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, and other biological processes. These multiple actions require accuracy in the isolation of RNA content from EVs and the methodologies used play a relevant role. In liver, EVs play a crucial role in regulating cell–cell communications and several pathophysiological events in the heterogeneous liver class of cells via horizontal transfer of their cargo. This review aims to discuss the rising role of EVs and their ncRNAs content in regulating specific aspects of hepatocellular carcinoma development, including tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, and tumor metastasis. We analyze the progress in EV-ncRNAs’ potential clinical applications as important diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for liver conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (14) ◽  
pp. 7256
Author(s):  
Vianet Argelia Tello-Flores ◽  
Fredy Omar Beltrán-Anaya ◽  
Marco Antonio Ramírez-Vargas ◽  
Brenda Ely Esteban-Casales ◽  
Napoleón Navarro-Tito ◽  
...  

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are single-stranded RNA biomolecules with a length of >200 nt, and they are currently considered to be master regulators of many pathological processes. Recent publications have shown that lncRNAs play important roles in the pathogenesis and progression of insulin resistance (IR) and glucose homeostasis by regulating inflammatory and lipogenic processes. lncRNAs regulate gene expression by binding to other non-coding RNAs, mRNAs, proteins, and DNA. In recent years, several mechanisms have been reported to explain the key roles of lncRNAs in the development of IR, including metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), imprinted maternal-ly expressed transcript (H19), maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3), myocardial infarction-associated transcript (MIAT), and steroid receptor RNA activator (SRA), HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR), and downregulated Expression-Related Hexose/Glucose Transport Enhancer (DREH). LncRNAs participate in the regulation of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, the inflammatory process, and oxidative stress through different pathways, such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate/protein kinase A (cAMP/PKA), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT), polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1/element-binding transcription factor 1c (PTBP1/SREBP-1c), AKT/nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), AKT/forkhead box O1 (FoxO1), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)/c-Jun-N-terminal kinases (JNK). On the other hand, the mechanisms linked to the molecular, cellular, and biochemical actions of lncRNAs vary according to the tissue, biological species, and the severity of IR. Therefore, it is essential to elucidate the role of lncRNAs in the insulin signaling pathway and glucose and lipid metabolism. This review analyzes the function and molecular mechanisms of lncRNAs involved in the development of IR.


2011 ◽  
Vol 208 (6) ◽  
pp. 1189-1201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark P. Boldin ◽  
Konstantin D. Taganov ◽  
Dinesh S. Rao ◽  
Lili Yang ◽  
Jimmy L. Zhao ◽  
...  

Excessive or inappropriate activation of the immune system can be deleterious to the organism, warranting multiple molecular mechanisms to control and properly terminate immune responses. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), ∼22-nt-long noncoding RNAs, have recently emerged as key posttranscriptional regulators, controlling diverse biological processes, including responses to non-self. In this study, we examine the biological role of miR-146a using genetically engineered mice and show that targeted deletion of this gene, whose expression is strongly up-regulated after immune cell maturation and/or activation, results in several immune defects. Collectively, our findings suggest that miR-146a plays a key role as a molecular brake on inflammation, myeloid cell proliferation, and oncogenic transformation.


Author(s):  
Yating Xu ◽  
Menggang Zhang ◽  
Qiyao Zhang ◽  
Xiao Yu ◽  
Zongzong Sun ◽  
...  

RNA methylation is considered a significant epigenetic modification, a process that does not alter gene sequence but may play a necessary role in multiple biological processes, such as gene expression, genome editing, and cellular differentiation. With advances in RNA detection, various forms of RNA methylation can be found, including N6-methyladenosine (m6A), N1-methyladenosine (m1A), and 5-methylcytosine (m5C). Emerging reports confirm that dysregulation of RNA methylation gives rise to a variety of human diseases, particularly hepatocellular carcinoma. We will summarize essential regulators of RNA methylation and biological functions of these modifications in coding and noncoding RNAs. In conclusion, we highlight complex molecular mechanisms of m6A, m5C, and m1A associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and hope this review might provide therapeutic potent of RNA methylation to clinical research.


MicroRNA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Tomei ◽  
Harshitha Shobha Manjunath ◽  
Selvasankar Murugesan ◽  
Souhaila Al Khodor

: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs ranging from 18-24 nucleotides also known to regulate the human genome mainly at the post-transcriptional level. MiRNAs were shown to play an important role in most biological processes such as apoptosis and in the pathogenesis of many diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Recent developments of advanced molecular high-throughput technologies have enhanced our knowledge of miRNAs. MiRNAs can now be discovered, interrogated, and quantified in various body fluids, and hence can serve as diagnostic and therapeutic markers for many diseases. While most studies use blood as a sample source to measure circulating miRNAs as possible biomarkers for disease pathogenesis, fewer studies have assessed the role of salivary miRNAs in health and disease. This review aims at providing an overview of the current knowledge of the salivary miRNome, addressing the technical aspects of saliva sampling and highlighting the applicability of miRNA screening to clinical practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik A. Barth ◽  
Felix Prinz ◽  
Julia Teppan ◽  
Katharina Jonas ◽  
Christiane Klec ◽  
...  

Hypoxia is dangerous for oxygen-dependent cells, therefore, physiological adaption to cellular hypoxic conditions is essential. The transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is the main regulator of hypoxic metabolic adaption reducing oxygen consumption and is regulated by gradual von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)-dependent proteasomal degradation. Beyond physiology, hypoxia is frequently encountered within solid tumors and first drugs are in clinical trials to tackle this pathway in cancer. Besides hypoxia, cancer cells may promote HIF expression under normoxic conditions by altering various upstream regulators, cumulating in HIF upregulation and enhanced glycolysis and angiogenesis, altogether promoting tumor proliferation and progression. Therefore, understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms is crucial to discover potential future therapeutic targets to evolve cancer therapy. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) are a class of non-protein coding RNA molecules with a length of over 200 nucleotides. They participate in cancer development and progression and might act as either oncogenic or tumor suppressive factors. Additionally, a growing body of evidence supports the role of lncRNAs in the hypoxic and normoxic regulation of HIF and its subunits HIF-1α and HIF-2α in cancer. This review provides a comprehensive update and overview of lncRNAs as regulators of HIFs expression and activation and discusses and highlights potential involved pathways.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina R. Hadjicharalambous ◽  
Mark A. Lindsay

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive chronic disease characterized by excessing scarring of the lungs leading to irreversible decline in lung function. The aetiology and pathogenesis of the disease are still unclear, although lung fibroblast and epithelial cell activation, as well as the secretion of fibrotic and inflammatory mediators, have been strongly associated with the development and progression of IPF. Significantly, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as modulators of multiple biological processes, although their function and mechanism of action in IPF is poorly understood. LncRNAs have been shown to be important regulators of several diseases and their aberrant expression has been linked to the pathophysiology of fibrosis including IPF. This review will provide an overview of this emerging role of lncRNAs in the development of IPF.


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