Non-coding RNAs articles from across Nature Portfolio

Research on Arabidopsis indicates that RNA decay, PTGS pathway, GC content, and spatial-temporal gene expression impact ct-siRNA production, vital for gene silencing during plant growth and stress responses.

In this Perspective, Werner and colleagues discuss the many potential mechanisms by which natural antisense transcripts (NATs) can regulate expression of their complementary sense transcripts, the biological implications of their regulatory effects and the potential of NATs for therapeutic applications.

Circulating factors have an important role in aging. Here the authors show that small extracellular vesicles derived from young plasma rejuvenate whole-body physiology in aged mice, at least in part, by stimulating PGC-1α expression and improving mitochondrial energy metabolism.

In experiments dubbed the Random Genome Project, researchers have integrated DNA strands with random sequences into yeast and mouse cells to find the default transcriptional state of their genomes.

Joana Vidigal reminds us of the first paper to report an endogenous role of the nucleolytic activity of the mammalian RNAi protein argonaute-2.

An Ago2^HA/HA mouse model combined with super-resolution microscopy, molecular and biochemical assays allowed us to stringently characterize AGO2 regulation in vivo. We found that in quiescent splenocytes, AGO2 localizes almost exclusively to the nucleus, where it binds to the RNA of young mobile transposons and represses their expression through its catalytic domain.

How spatial organization in the cell is achieved on the organelle scale is unclear. A new study finds that tethering specific proteins near the surface of micelle-like paraspeckles modifies their properties and determines whether these subnuclear organelles are separate from, adhere to, or are engulfed by nuclear speckles.

Bacteria and archaea are microorganisms that often use RNA-guided defences called CRISPR to destroy the genomes of viruses that infect them. It now emerges that viruses make RNAs that act as mimics to divert such defences.