It is now becoming largely accepted that the non-coding portion of the genome, rather than its coding counterpart, is likely to account for the greater complexity of higher eukaryotes. Moreover, non-coding RNAs have been demonstrated to participate in regulatory circuitries that are crucial for development and differentiation. Whereas the biogenesis and function of small non-coding RNAs, partic...

The microRNAs are a group of 20 nucleotides-long non-coding RNAs. By binding to the 3'UTR region of target mRNA, microRNAs can perform extensive actions mediating gene expression at post-trancriptional stages. It makes microRNAs serve as very crucial regulators in various biological progress including carcinogenesis. Long non-coding RNAs, however, are a subgroup of RNA with the length of 200 nu...

downs syndrome (ds), or trisomy 21, is the most common genetic cause of cognitive impairment and congenital heart defects in the human population. to date, the contribution of micrornas (mirnas) in ds has not been investigated. bioinformatic analyses demonstrate that human chromosome 21 (hsa21) harbors five mirna genes mir-99a, let-7c, mir-125b-2, mir-155 and mir-802. mirna expression profiling...

Non-coding ribonucleic acid (RNA) has without a doubt captured the interest of biomedical researchers. The ability to screen the entire human genome with high-throughput sequencing technology has greatly enhanced the identification, annotation and prediction of the functionality of non-coding RNAs. In this review, we discuss the current landscape of non-coding RNA research and quantitative anal...