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Repetitive sequences that shape the human transcriptome
Author(s) -
Jasinska Anna,
Krzyzosiak Wlodzimierz J.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2004.03.109
Subject(s) - transcriptome , alu element , biology , human genome , genetics , genome , repeated sequence , sequence (biology) , interspersed repeat , context (archaeology) , computational biology , trinucleotide repeat expansion , rna , gene , function (biology) , evolutionary biology , gene expression , allele , paleontology
Only a small portion of the total RNA transcribed in human cells becomes mature mRNA and constitutes the human transcriptome, which is context‐dependent and varies with development, physiology and pathology. A small fraction of different repetitive sequences, which make up more than half of the human genome, is retained in mature transcripts and shapes their function. Among them are short interspersed elements (SINEs), of which Alu sequences are most frequent, and simple sequence repeats, which come in many varieties. In this review, we have focused on the structural and functional role of Alu elements and trinucleotide repeats in transcripts.