Research on Non-coding RNA Structure and Function

Dear Colleagues, 

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), a large group of RNAs that possess little or no protein-coding potentials, play important and diverse roles. The many different ncRNA categories include rRNAs, tRNAs, snoRNAs, microRNAs, lncRNAs, circRNAs, piRNAs, etc., which show specific sequence features and biological functions. Moreover, the secondary and tertiary structures of ncRNAs are crucial for their maturation and molecular functions. While covariation analysis of the primary sequences helps to identify conserved RNA structures, the combination of next-generation sequencing and RNA structure probing techniques enables analyzing RNA secondary structures at the transcriptome-wide level. Many tools have been developed to predict both the secondary and tertiary structures of ncRNAs. Despite this, we still know very little about the structure–function association of ncRNAs.

Compared with the numerous studies on protein structures and functions, ncRNAs are extremely understudied. How do sequence differences determine the ncRNA structural differences and functional diversities? Is the RNA structure correlated with the coding potential? Will there be an AlphaFold2-like software for RNA structure prediction? There are very limited databases deciphering ncRNA structure. It is not clear how ncRNAs mediate various associated interactions, and the landscape of ncRNA-mediated interactome has not been fully characterized.

To address these questions, we would like to organize a Special Issue focusing on the potential topics, including but not limited to:

1. Sequence analysis of ncRNA
2. RNA coding potential prediction
3. Prediction of ncRNA structure
4. RNA structure probing techniques
5. RNA tertiary structure analysis
6. ncRNA-mediated interactome
7. Functional analysis of ncRNA
8. Structure–function association of ncRNA

Dr. Lina Ma
Dr. Tao Huang
Dr. Xianyang Fang
Guest Editors

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