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Statistical Mechanics in Systems Biology: Villa Orlandi, Anacapri ~ May 29 - June 1, 2012 |
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Irene Bozzoni Dept. of Biology and Biotechnology, Sapienza Universita' di Roma (Italy) Non-coding RNA: new functions and perspectives One of the greatest surprises of high throughput transcriptome analysis of the last years has been the discovery that the mammalian genome is pervasively transcribed into many different complex families of RNA. It is now becoming largely accepted that the non-coding portion of the genome rather than its coding counterpart is likely to account for the greater complexity of higher eukaryotes. In addition to a large number of alternative transcriptional start sites, termination and splicing patterns, a complex collection of new antisense, intronic and intergenic transcripts was found. Small non-coding RNA have been extensively studied and shown to be key components of regulation and control in many eukaryotes including animals and plants. While they were initially described as negative switches acting with transcription factors to control of gene expression, these RNAs are now seen as modulators or fine tuners of posttranscriptional regulation that are often components of negative or positive feedback loops. Although many studies have helped unveiling the function of many small non-coding RNAs, very little is known about the long non-coding (lncRNA) counterpart of the transcriptome. Examples of regulatory circuitries regulated by both small and long non-coding RNAs will be presented and perspectives on their new functions in the control of gene expression will be discussed. |
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