This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.
This volume provides established approaches for identifying, characterizing, and manipulating circRNAs in vitro, in vivo, and in silico. Chapters highlight the breakthroughs and the challenges in this new field of research. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Circular RNAs: Methods and Protocols aims to useful and informative for further study into this vital field.
The essential one-volume reference to evolution The Princeton Guide to Evolution is a comprehensive, concise, and authoritative reference to the major subjects and key concepts in evolutionary biology, from genes to mass extinctions. Edited by a distinguished team of evolutionary biologists, with contributions from leading researchers, the guide contains some 100 clear, accurate, and up-to-date articles on the most important topics in seven major areas: phylogenetics and the history of life; selection and adaptation; evolutionary processes; genes, genomes, and phenotypes; speciation and macroevolution; evolution of behavior, society, and humans; and evolution and modern society. Complete with more than 100 illustrations (including eight pages in color), glossaries of key terms, suggestions for further reading on each topic, and an index, this is an essential volume for undergraduate and graduate students, scientists in related fields, and anyone else with a serious interest in evolution. Explains key topics in some 100 concise and authoritative articles written by a team of leading evolutionary biologists Contains more than 100 illustrations, including eight pages in color Each article includes an outline, glossary, bibliography, and cross-references Covers phylogenetics and the history of life; selection and adaptation; evolutionary processes; genes, genomes, and phenotypes; speciation and macroevolution; evolution of behavior, society, and humans; and evolution and modern society
This book provides an essential overview of the rapidly advancing field of circular RNAs – newly discovered RNAs that are generated by back-splicing precursor mRNA and perform regulatory functions in many biological processes. Although many aspects of circular RNAs’ biology and mechanisms of gene regulation remain unclear, they have been found to be abundant, evolutionally conserved, and stable in cells; further, they have numerous potential functions. The book consists of eight parts:1) An overview of circular RNAs, 2) Bioinformatics for circular RNAs, 3) Biogenesis of circular RNAs, 4) Molecular mechanisms and gene regulation of circular RNAs, 5) Circular RNAs as potential disease biomarkers, 6) Circular RNAs and human diseases, 7) Circular RNAs in Plants and in Archaea, and 8) Future prospects. Given its focus, the book will be especially useful for researchers and students in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and medicine.
Cancer and Noncoding RNAs offers an in-depth exploration of noncoding RNAs and their role in epigenetic regulation of complex human disease, most notably cancer. In addition to examining microRNAs, this volume provides a unique evaluation of more recently profiled noncoding RNAs now implicated in carcinogenesis, including lncRNAs, piRNAs, circRNAs, and tRNAs, identifying differences in function between these noncoding RNAs and how they interact with the rest of the epigenome. A broad range of chapters from experts in the field detail epigenetic regulation of various cancer types, along with recent next generation sequencing technologies, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and bioinformatics approaches. This book will help researchers in genomic medicine and cancer biology better understand the role of noncoding RNAs in epigenetics, aiding in the development of useful biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and new RNA-based disease therapies. - Provides a comprehensive analysis of noncoding RNAs implicated in epigenetic regulation of gene expression and chromatin dynamics - Educates researchers and graduate students by highlighting, in addition to miRNAs, a range of noncoding RNAs newly associated with carcinogenesis - Applies current knowledge of noncoding RNAs and epigenomics towards developing cancer and RNA-based disease therapies - Features contributions by leading experts in the field
Gene expression is the most fundamental level at which genotype gives rise to phenotype, which is an obvious, observable, and measurable trait. Phenotype is dependent on genetic makeup of the organism and influenced by environmental conditions. This book explores the significance, mechanism, function, characteristic, determination, and application of gene expression and phenotypic traits.
The study of RNA-protein interactions is crucial to understanding the mechanisms and control of gene expression and protein synthesis. The realization that RNAs are often far more biologically active than was previously appreciated has stimulated a great deal of new research in this field. Uniquely, in this book, the world's leading researchers have collaborated to produce a comprehensive and current review of RNA-protein interactions for all scientists working in this area. Timely, comprehensive, and authoritative, this new Frontiers title will be invaluable for all researchers in molecular biology, biochemistry and structural biology.
The second edition of a highly acclaimed handbook and ready reference. Unmatched in its breadth and quality, around 100 specialists from all over the world share their up-to-date expertise and experiences, including hundreds of protocols, complete with explanations, and hitherto unpublished troubleshooting hints. They cover all modern techniques for the handling, analysis and modification of RNAs and their complexes with proteins. Throughout, they bear the practising bench scientist in mind, providing quick and reliable access to a plethora of solutions for practical questions of RNA research, ranging from simple to highly complex. This broad scope allows the treatment of specialized methods side by side with basic biochemical techniques, making the book a real treasure trove for every researcher experimenting with RNA.
An exciting class of regulatory small noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) has emerged in recent years that play key role(s) in the etiology/pathogenesis and diagnosis/prognosis of various human diseases including various hematologic and solid cancers, cardiovascular diseases including stroke/atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic disorders, neuropathies, neurodegeneration including Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease or Multiple Sclerosis, neurological disorders including epilepsy and muscular dystrophies, liver diseases, pulmonary fibrosis, immune-mediated inflammatory disorders and inflammatory bowel disease, gastritis, autoimmune disorders including arthritis, acromegaly, chronic kidney disease, allergic rhinitis, vitiligo, osteoporosis, obstructive sleep apnea, ocular disease, periodontitis, skeletal muscle atrophy, and parasitic diseases including leishmaniasis, amongst others. These ncRNAs include primarily microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) or exosomal RNAs (exRNAs), etc. that modulate the expression of target genes thus potentially regulating protein expression in normal versus diseased individuals. This Research Topic recognizes the importance of and seeks to explore, ncRNAs in the diagnosis, etiology, progression, prognosis, and treatment of human disease as well as novel biomarker discovery by multi-omics technologies and other methodologies. Indeed, high-throughput technologies employing deep sequencing, proteogenomic, microarrays, and quantitative real-time PCR have begun to shed new light on the architecture of ncRNA landscapes in various diseases and key signal transduction cascades modulated by these ncRNAs in disease pathology. Epigenetic control of gene expression mediated via miRNAs, for instance, has expanded our understanding of transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by critical ncRNAs in the cellular milieu. Network biology approaches including the construction of relevant ncRNA networks, ncRNA-mRNA networks, and bioinformatics for mining of ncRNAs, are gaining greater relevance in the search for ‘target hubs’ or novel biomarker(s) of disease. Delineation of ncRNA signatures by transcriptomic profiling or RNA-seq, for example, is an important milestone in furthering our knowledge of the repertoire of specific ncRNAs implicated in various diseases. Further, elucidation of the specific steps of the signaling cascades where ncRNAs exert their regulatory actions will augment our understanding of diseases. This will lead to the development of (i) a novel biomarker, or biomarker signature panel, for disease; (ii) ncRNA-based companion diagnostics for diagnosis of disease; (iii) point-of-care testing devices based on ncRNAs; (iv) newer therapeutic agents that target novel biomarkers with specificity, thereby reducing toxicity; (v) ncRNA-based prophylactic approaches of the future; and, (vi) ncRNA-based prognosis of disease.
This volume presents readers with up-to-date protocols, bioinformatics toolkits, and reference material for understanding circRNAs in plants. The chapters in this book summarize the concepts and techniques for prediction/identification, validation, and analysis of plant circRNAs and their regulatory targets. Some of the topics covered are procedures for circRNA identification and characterization; strategies for circRNA generation; next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and circRNAs’ research; and bioinformatics tools and pipelines for the analysis of circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Plant Circular RNAs: Methods and Protocols is an important reference for any researcher looking to explore and apply the latest developments made in this field.
