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From structure to function: Route to understanding lncRNA mechanism
Author(s) -
Graf Johannes,
Kretz Markus
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.202000027
Subject(s) - interactome , computational biology , biology , function (biology) , mechanism (biology) , genetics , gene , philosophy , epistemology
RNAs have emerged as a major target for diagnostics and therapeutics approaches. Regulatory nonprotein‐coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in particular display remarkable versatility. They can fold into complex structures and interact with proteins, DNA, and other RNAs, thus modulating activity, localization, or interactome of multi‐protein complexes. Thus, ncRNAs confer regulatory plasticity and represent a new layer of regulatory control. Interestingly, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) tend to acquire complex secondary and tertiary structures and their function—in many cases—is dependent on structural conservation rather than primary sequence conservation. Whereas for many proteins, structure and its associated function are closely connected, for lncRNAs, the structural domains that determine functionality and its interactome are still not well understood. Numerous approaches for analyzing the structural configuration of lncRNAs have been developed recently. Here, will provide an overview of major experimental approaches used in the field, and discuss the potential benefit of using combinatorial strategies to analyze lncRNA modes of action based on structural information.