title: Long noncoding RNAs: implications for antigen receptor diversification.
abstract: Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), both small and large, have recently risen to prominence as surprisingly versatile regulators of gene expression. In fact, eukaryotic transcriptomes are rife with RNAs that do not code for protein, though the majority of these species remains wholly uncharacterized. The functional diversity among the mere handful of validated ncRNAs hints at the vast regulatory potential of these silent biomolecules. Though the act of noncoding transcription and the resultant ncRNAs do not directly produce proteins, they represent powerful means of gene control. Here we survey the accumulating literature on the myriad functions of long ncRNAs and emphasize one curious case of noncoding transcription at antigen receptor loci in lymphocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: F Nina
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Papavasiliou
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011946:Receptors, Antigen / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D011946:Receptors, Antigen