Natural antisense transcripts

Abstract

Recent years have seen the increasing understanding of the crucial role of RNA in the functioning of the eukaryotic genome. These discoveries, fueled by the achievements of the FANTOM, and later GENCODE and ENCODE consortia, led to the recognition of the important regulatory roles of natural antisense transcripts (NATs) arising from what was previously thought to be 'junk DNA'. Roughly defined as non-coding regulatory RNA transcribed from the opposite strand of a coding gene locus, NATs are proving to be a heterogeneous group with high potential for therapeutic application. Here, we attempt to summarize the rapidly growing knowledge about this important non-coding RNA subclass.