Abstract

Background: Although up to 90% of the eukaryotic genome can be transcribed, only 1-2% of the resultant transcripts encode for proteins, while the remaining can be classified as non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) which mostly consist of long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) and small ncRNAs. In overall, they have been suggested to target specific regions in the genome and play multi-faceted roles in many important biological processes.

Summary: Recent evidence has shown that ncRNAs are abundantly expressed in the brain and many of them are aberrantly regulated in neural disorders. Yet their functional relevance in related physiological and pathological processes has not been adequately understood. Thus, the elucidation of the role of ncRNAs in the brain would greatly enhance the current understanding of neural development and ultimately lead to novel strategies to treat neural diseases. In this report, we reviewed the structure and mechanism of lncRNAs and various classes of small ncRNAs in brain development and neural disorders.

Perspective: We hope that extensive studies of these ncRNAs would unravel and characterize novel molecular circuits in the brain, and facilitate the development of RNA-based therapeutics for people suffering from neural disorders.

Keywords: lncRNA, miRNA, piRNA, base pairing, brain development, neural disorder.