MicroRNAs: heralds of the noncoding RNA revolution

The RNA interference revolution.

The discovery of double-stranded RNA-mediated gene silencing has rapidly led to its use as a method of choice for blocking a gene, and has turned it into one of the most discussed topics in cell biology. Although still in its infancy, the field of RNA interference has already produced a vast array of results, mainly in Caenorhabditis elegans, but recently also in mammalian systems. Micro-RNAs a...

The Noncoding RNA Revolution—Trashing Old Rules to Forge New Ones

Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) accomplish a remarkable variety of biological functions. They regulate gene expression at the levels of transcription, RNA processing, and translation. They protect genomes from foreign nucleic acids. They can guide DNA synthesis or genome rearrangement. For ribozymes and riboswitches, the RNA structure itself provides the biological function, but most ncRNAs operate as ...

Study of Long Noncoding RNA FER1L4 and RB1, as Its Competing Endogenous RNA Network Target Gene, in Breast Cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death among females, which requires an exploration for markers to propose a more specific categorization of this cancer. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), the main subset of noncoding transcripts, are involved in tumorigenic processes. In this study, we investigated the expression of the fer-­1–­like family member 4 (FER...

Selective degradation of host MicroRNAs by an intergenic HCMV noncoding RNA accelerates virus production.

Virulence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) clinical isolates correlates with carriage of a 15 kb segment in the UL/b' region of the viral genome, which is absent from attenuated strains. The mechanisms by which this segment contributes to HCMV virulence remain obscure. We observed that intergenic RNA sequences within the 15 kb segment function as a microRNA (miRNA) decay element (miRDE) and dire...

Long Noncoding RNA-GAS5