An introduction to non-coding RNAs.

Abstract

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a group of RNAs that do not encode proteins but play key roles in diverse biological functions such as gene regulation, chromatin remodeling, and other cellular processes. Two major types are small ncRNAs (sncRNAs, with a size of ∼21-34 nucleotides) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs, size of>200 nucleotides), and each has multiple subtypes. Notably, ncRNAs constitute over 90 % of the RNAs from the human genome. Exploring ncRNAs is important to understand the complexities of cellular regulations and for potential therapeutic applications as biomarkers or therapies in various diseases such as cancer. In this chapter, we provide a gist of ncRNAs, their role in regulation.