title: The role of Alu elements in the cis-regulation of RNA processing.
abstract: The human genome is under constant invasion by retrotransposable elements. The most successful of these are the Alu elements; with a copy number of over a million, they occupy about 10 % of the entire genome. Interestingly, the vast majority of these Alu insertions are located in gene-rich regions, and one-third of all human genes contains an Alu insertion. Alu sequences are often embedded in gene sequence encoding pre-mRNAs and mature mRNAs, usually as part of their intron or UTRs. Once transcribed, they can regulate gene expression as well as increase the number of RNA isoforms expressed in a tissue or a species. They also regulate the function of other RNAs, like microRNAs, circular RNAs, and potentially long non-coding RNAs. Mechanistically, Alu elements exert their effects by influencing diverse processes, such as RNA editing, exonization, and RNA processing. In so doing, they have undoubtedly had a profound effect on human evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Svante Arrheniusväg 20C, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Chammiran
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Svante Arrheniusväg 20C, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mikaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Behm
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Svante Arrheniusväg 20C, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden. marie.ohman@su.se.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Öhman
mesh_terms: D020087:Alu Elements / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005091:Exons; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011323:Primates / Q000235:genetics; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D017393:RNA Editing; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D000079962:RNA, Circular; D020506:Untranslated Regions
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D000079962:RNA, Circular; D020506:Untranslated Regions; D012313:RNA
keywords: Alu element; Exonization; RNA editing; Retrotransposon; SINE; circRNA; miRNA