T ranslation is the process by which the genetic information in a molecule of messenger RNA (mRNA) produces a protein, and the rate at which protein is produced from a given mRNA molecule is called the translation efficiency. This number is different for different mRNA molecules (Maier et al., 2009; Guo et al., 2008), which is why researchers are trying to determine which features of these mole...

Noncoding RNA (ncRNA) genes that produce functional RNAs instead of encoding proteins seem to be somewhat more prevalent than previously thought. However, estimating their number and importance is difficult because systematic identification of ncRNA genes remains challenging. Here, we exploit a strong, surprising DNA composition bias in genomes of some hyperthermophilic organisms: simply screen...

Paraspeckles are ribonucleoprotein bodies found in the interchromatin space of mammalian cell nuclei. These structures play a role in regulating the expression of certain genes in differentiated cells by nuclear retention of RNA. The core paraspeckle proteins (PSF/SFPQ, P54NRB/NONO, and PSPC1 [paraspeckle protein 1]) are members of the DBHS (Drosophila melanogaster behavior, human splicing) fam...

Previous results have indicated that Rous sarcoma virus env gene expression is specifically inhibited by antisense RNA (L.-J. Chang and C. M. Stoltzfus, Mol. Cell. Biol. 5:2341-2348, 1985). In this study, we compare the extents of inhibition by antisense RNA derived from different parts of the Rous sarcoma virus genome, and we show that antisense constructs containing the 3'-end noncoding regio...

Cells are exposed to various intrinsic and extrinsic stresses in both physiological and pathological conditions. To adapt to those conditions, cells have evolved various mechanisms to cope with the disturbances in protein demand, largely through the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), but also through the integrated stress response (ISR). Both responses initiate d...

Recent studies recognize a vast diversity of noncoding RNAs with largely unknown functions, but few have examined interspersed repeat sequences, which constitute almost half our genome. RNA hybridization in situ using C0T-1 (highly repeated) DNA probes detects surprisingly abundant euchromatin-associated RNA comprised predominantly of repeat sequences (C0T-1 RNA), including LINE-1. C0T-1-hybrid...

The absence of reliable quantitative laboratory tests for measurements of microRNAs and other classes of small noncoding RNAs in archived, formalin- fixed, paraffin-embedded human samples with sufficient specificity and sensitivity has significantly limited the development of clinically relevant noncoding RNA–based diagnostic and therapeutic applications. A report by Renwick et al. in this issu...

RNA editing is a widespread post-transcriptional mechanism that can make a single base change on specific nucleotide sequence in an RNA transcript. RNA editing events can result in missense codon changes and modulation of alternative splicing in mRNA, and modification of regulatory RNAs and their binding sites in noncoding RNAs. Recent computational studies accurately detected more than 2 milli...

The nucleotide sequences of the 3' noncoding regions of all eight segments of influenza B virus RNA and the sequences of the 5' noncoding regions of segments 4-8 were determined in virus strains isolated over a period of 40 years. Nearly complete conservation of the noncoding sequences was found. Nine nucleotides at the 3' termini and 11 nucleotides at the 5' termini were common to all segments...

MALAT1 is a long noncoding RNA known to be misregulated in many human cancers. We have identified a highly conserved small RNA of 61 nucleotides originating from the MALAT1 locus that is broadly expressed in human tissues. Although the long MALAT1 transcript localizes to nuclear speckles, the small RNA is found exclusively in the cytoplasm. RNase P cleaves the nascent MALAT1 transcript downstre...