Chapter category: RNA
Brain-Specific Nonmessenger RNAs
Noncoding RNAs: Molecular Biology and Molecular Medicine
Edited by: Jan Barciszewski and Volker A. ErdmannISBN: 0-306-47835-8
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Chapter authors:
Jürgen Brosius, Alexander Hüttenhofer and Henri Tiege
RNAs that do not encode proteins, as do messenger RNAs, play much more prominent roles in the functioning of cells than we first anticipated–qualitatively and quantitatively. At least in Eukarya one has the impression that we have hardly left the RNA world. This RNA life is not only a remnant from the RNA/RNP worlds but is still ongoing, as even young RNAs have been shown to contribute to a variety of cellular tasks. The brain, in particular, exhibits a number of nonmessenger RNAs that are brain specific and in most cases even neuron-specific. This chapter lists prominent examples of neuron-specific RNAs that do not encode proteins, with emphasis on small nonmessenger RNAs (snmRNAs) and discusses their potential functions in those cells.
Jürgen Brosius
Institute of Experimental Pathology, ZMBE, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Alexander Hüttenhofer
Institute of Experimental Pathology, ZMBE, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Henri Tiege
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
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