The impact of non-coding RNAs Workshop on New Functions of Regulatory RNAs in Pro- & Eukaryotes

摘要

T he central role of RNARNA in translation has been accepted for more than 50 years, although classically the only known roles for RNARNA were as a template for translation (mRNARNA) or as part of the translational machinery (rRNARNA and tRNARNA). In 1989, S. Altman and T.?C?Cech received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery of RNARNA catalysis; Altman described the catalytic activity of the RNARNA molecule in the RNase P ribozyme of Escherichia coli (Guerrier-Takada et?al, 1983) and, concurrently, Cech observed the self-splicing reaction of the Tetrahymena rRNARNA precursor (Kruger et?al, 1982). As RNARNA has generally been considered to have a passive role in 2009translation, these important milestones have drastically changed our view of RNARNA to be an enzymatically active molecule. Since then, several abundant small ‘non-mRNARNAs’ have been discovered such as the small-nuclear RNARNAs of the splicosome and small-nucleolar RNARNAs that are involved in rRNARNA modification. More recently, other small RNARNAs—such as siRNARNAs and microRNARNARNAs— have been shown to inhibit translation through direct interactions with the mRNARNA. At the beginning of the new millennium, the impact of RNARNA on the regulation of gene expression was foreseeable. The hunt for non-coding regulatory RNARNAs (ncRNARNAs) is ongoing in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and large research efforts are being directed towards elucidating the mechanisms whereby they control gene expression. This EMBO workshop highlighted recent findings on the regulatory role of RNARNA in all kingdoms of life, covering various RNARNA-based regulatory mechanisms, from chromatin modifications to translational repression and RNARNA degradation.