Pathways in Development and Disease: The Role of RNA Regulation in Biological and Pathological Events

Dear Colleagues,

Human diseases are very heterogeneous but may be clustered and congenital, inflammatory/degenerative, and oncologic. Many factors take place in this process, but a key player is RNA.

RNA is pivotal in the regulation of cellular events, acting in the post-transcriptional phase, providing checkpoints in cellular functions and gene regulation. The improvement in scientific knowledge has highlighted this role, providing more and more data, from function to therapy. Today, we know that RNA molecules are exposed to multiple posttranscriptional processes that affect gene expression, namely translation, transport, degradation, and splicing, among others. Therefore, RNA dysregulation affects different biological processes in human diseases.

As the landscape of RNA biology keeps evolving and providing us with interesting answers, it also introduces deep and intricate questions on how to integrate knowledge and apply it in therapeutic approaches. Selective changes in RNA are associated with biological adaptations to an everchanging environment, and its comprehension will be fundamental to the design of targeted therapies in order to overcome the burden of diseases.

In this Special Issue, we invite publishers to present their excellent research/reviews on RNA and diseases, hoping to improve our knowledge and understanding of this subject.

Suggestion of topics to be handled by this Special Issue:

• Role of RNA post-transcriptional modification in cancer;
• RNA role in development;
• Interaction between human RNA and virus RNA in virus-mediated human disease;
• Diagnostic applications of RNA in cancer;
• Extracellular small noncoding RNA in cancer;
• RNA-based therapies in human disease.

Prof. Dr. Guilherme Tralhão
Dr. Rui Caetano Oliveira
Guest Editors

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• RNA
• human disease
• cancer
• diagnostic
• therapy
• development