Pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcripts
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Naturally occurring antisense transcripts (NATs) are non-coding RNAs that may regulate the activity of sense transcripts to which they bind because of complementarity. NATs that are not located in the gene they regulate (trans-NATs)...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2010-11-01
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| Series: | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/338 |
| _version_ | 1818398210032402432 |
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| author | Andrade-Navarro Miguel A Muro Enrique M |
| author_facet | Andrade-Navarro Miguel A Muro Enrique M |
| author_sort | Andrade-Navarro Miguel A |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Naturally occurring antisense transcripts (NATs) are non-coding RNAs that may regulate the activity of sense transcripts to which they bind because of complementarity. NATs that are not located in the gene they regulate (trans-NATs) have better chances to evolve than cis-NATs, which is evident when the sense strand of the cis-NAT is part of a protein coding gene. However, the generation of a trans-NAT requires the formation of a relatively large region of complementarity to the gene it regulates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Pseudogene formation may be one evolutionary mechanism that generates trans-NATs to the parental gene. For example, this could occur if the parental gene is regulated by a cis-NAT that is copied as a trans-NAT in the pseudogene. To support this we identified human pseudogenes with a trans-NAT to the parental gene in their antisense strand by analysis of the database of expressed sequence tags (ESTs). We found that the mutations that appeared in these trans-NATs after the pseudogene formation do not show the flat distribution that would be expected in a non functional transcript. Instead, we found higher similarity to the parental gene in a region nearby the 3' end of the trans-NATs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results do not imply a functional relation of the trans-NAT arising from pseudogenes over their respective parental genes but add evidence for it and stress the importance of duplication mechanisms of genetic material in the generation of non-coding RNAs. We also provide a plausible explanation for the large transcripts that can be found in the antisense strand of some pseudogenes.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T07:01:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c541e55a5d2c43e5b0782a6808e9c9cd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2148 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T07:01:09Z |
| publishDate | 2010-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c541e55a5d2c43e5b0782a6808e9c9cd2022-12-21T23:12:25ZengBMCBMC Evolutionary Biology1471-21482010-11-0110133810.1186/1471-2148-10-338Pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcriptsAndrade-Navarro Miguel AMuro Enrique M<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Naturally occurring antisense transcripts (NATs) are non-coding RNAs that may regulate the activity of sense transcripts to which they bind because of complementarity. NATs that are not located in the gene they regulate (trans-NATs) have better chances to evolve than cis-NATs, which is evident when the sense strand of the cis-NAT is part of a protein coding gene. However, the generation of a trans-NAT requires the formation of a relatively large region of complementarity to the gene it regulates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Pseudogene formation may be one evolutionary mechanism that generates trans-NATs to the parental gene. For example, this could occur if the parental gene is regulated by a cis-NAT that is copied as a trans-NAT in the pseudogene. To support this we identified human pseudogenes with a trans-NAT to the parental gene in their antisense strand by analysis of the database of expressed sequence tags (ESTs). We found that the mutations that appeared in these trans-NATs after the pseudogene formation do not show the flat distribution that would be expected in a non functional transcript. Instead, we found higher similarity to the parental gene in a region nearby the 3' end of the trans-NATs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results do not imply a functional relation of the trans-NAT arising from pseudogenes over their respective parental genes but add evidence for it and stress the importance of duplication mechanisms of genetic material in the generation of non-coding RNAs. We also provide a plausible explanation for the large transcripts that can be found in the antisense strand of some pseudogenes.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/338 |
| spellingShingle | Andrade-Navarro Miguel A Muro Enrique M Pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcripts BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| title | Pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcripts |
| title_full | Pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcripts |
| title_fullStr | Pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcripts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcripts |
| title_short | Pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcripts |
| title_sort | pseudogenes as an alternative source of natural antisense transcripts |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/338 |
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