Regulatory RNAs

Recent progress in high-throughput technologies and genome-wide transcriptome studies have led to the significant scientific milestone of discovering non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which span a major portion of the genome. Such RNAs most often act as riboregulators and actively participate in the regulation of important cellular functions at the transcriptional and/or post-transcriptional levels rather than simply being an intermediate messenger between DNA and proteins. Hence these RNA regulators are essential to the development of therapeutic or molecular medicine. This book on Regulatory RNAs offers a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of these regulatory RNAs, which include siRNA, miRNA, piRNA, snoRNA, long non-coding RNA, small RNA in bacteria etc. It addresses both the biogenesis and mechanism of action of regulatory RNAs with a primary focus on their annotation, experimental methodologies (microarray, next-gen sequencing etc.) for their discovery, computational tools for their prediction, and above all, applications of these revolutionary regulatory molecules in understanding biological systems and diseases, including regenerative therapy. The authors are internationally respected experts in the field of RNA biology. This comprehensive volume is intended for readers with research or teaching interests in ncRNA biology, gene expression, microarrays, deep sequencing, genomics or molecular biology.