title: Genetic variation in the non-coding genome: Involvement of micro-RNAs and long non-coding RNAs in disease.
abstract: It has been found that the majority of disease-associated genetic variants identified by genome-wide association studies are located outside of protein-coding regions, where they seem to affect regions that control transcription (promoters, enhancers) and non-coding RNAs that also can influence gene expression. In this review, we focus on two classes of non-coding RNAs that are currently a major focus of interest: micro-RNAs and long non-coding RNAs. We describe their biogenesis, suggested mechanism of action, and discuss how these non-coding RNAs might be affected by disease-associated genetic alterations. The discovery of these alterations has already contributed to a better understanding of the etiopathology of human diseases and yielded insight into the function of these non-coding RNAs. We also provide an overview of available databases, bioinformatics tools, and high-throughput techniques that can be used to study the mechanism of action of individual non-coding RNAs. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: From Genome to Function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hrdlickova
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Coutinho
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: de Almeida
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Zuzanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Borek
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sebo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Withoff
keywords: Genetic variant; Human disease; SNP; lncRNA; miRNA; ncRNA