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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as crucial components of gene-regulatory networks, in which they act alone or cooperatively to regulate gene expression. Here, the authors provide a systems-biological view of miRNA function and how disruption of miRNA networks can lead to malignancy.
Studies have demonstrated that paternal traits acquired in response to environmental conditions can be inherited by the offspring, sometimes persisting for multiple generations. In this Review, the authors discuss the accumulating evidence of a major role for sperm RNAs and RNA modifications in the inheritance of acquired traits and the mechanisms that may underlie this.
In this article, the authors review the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying cell type identity and discuss how new phenotypic features of cell types evolve. They explain how evolutionary lineage differs from developmental lineage and highlight how an evolutionary view of cell type identity can facilitate research in comparative cell biology.
A genome sequence is only useful once the information encoded in it can be deciphered. In this Review, Mudge and Harrow describe the latest approaches to higher eukaryote gene annotation, including making the best use of complex transcriptome data sets, integrating evidence for functionality and extending annotations to encompass regulatory features.
