Reverse-genetics studies of lncRNAs—what we have learnt and paths forward

Abstract Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) represent a major fraction of the transcriptome in multicellular organisms. Although a handful of well-studied lncRNAs are broadly recognized as biologically meaningful, the fraction of such transcripts out of the entire collection of lncRNAs remains a subject...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fan Gao, Ye Cai, Philipp Kapranov, Dongyang Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2020-04-01
Series:Genome Biology
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-020-01994-5
Description
Summary:Abstract Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) represent a major fraction of the transcriptome in multicellular organisms. Although a handful of well-studied lncRNAs are broadly recognized as biologically meaningful, the fraction of such transcripts out of the entire collection of lncRNAs remains a subject of vigorous debate. Here we review the evidence for and against biological functionalities of lncRNAs and attempt to arrive at potential modes of lncRNA functionality that would reconcile the contradictory conclusions. Finally, we discuss different strategies of phenotypic analyses that could be used to investigate such modes of lncRNA functionality.
ISSN:1474-760X