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Structure and Gene-Silencing Mechanisms of Small Noncoding RNAs

  • Chapter
Non-Protein Coding RNAs

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Biophysics ((BIOPHYSICS,volume 13))

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Abstract

Small (19–31-nucleotides) noncoding RNAs were identified in the past 10 years for their distinct function in gene silencing. The best known gene-silencing phenomenon, RNA interference (RNAi), is triggered in a sequence-specific manner by endogenously produced or exogenously introduced small doubled-stranded RNAs. As knowledge of the structure and function of the RNAi machinery has expanded, this phenomenon has become a powerful tool for biochemical research; it has enormous potential for therapeutics. This chapter summarizes significant aspects of three major classes of small noncoding, regulatory RNAs: small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). Here, we focus on the biogenesis of these small RNAs, their structural features and coupled effectors as well as the mechanisms of each small regulatory RNA pathway which reveal fascinating ways by which gene silencing is controlled and fine-tuned at an epigenetic level.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA

    Tariq M. Rana

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  1. Chia-Ying Chu
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Correspondence to Tariq M. Rana .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, 930 N. University, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1055, USA

    Nils G. Walter (Associate Professor of Chemistry) (Associate Professor of Chemistry)

  2. Department of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Sarah A. Woodson (Professor of Biophysics) (Professor of Biophysics)

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Box 215, Boulder, CO, 80309-0215, USA

    Robert T. Batey (Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry) (Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry)

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Chu, CY., Rana, T.M. (2009). Structure and Gene-Silencing Mechanisms of Small Noncoding RNAs. In: Walter, N.G., Woodson, S.A., Batey, R.T. (eds) Non-Protein Coding RNAs. Springer Series in Biophysics, vol 13. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70840-7_17

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