In: Biology
what can RNA do in addition to encoding protein?
RNA or ribonucleic acid serves as an intermediate messenger that transmits the genetic information from the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) to its encoded protein products. In this process of protein-encoding, the DNA sequence of the gene is first translated into mRNA (messenger RNA) and then the mRNA is translated into the amino acid sequence to make a protein product.
Apart from mRNA, there are several other types of RNA too. These RNAs perform a variety of versatile functions in the cell. It is found that a vast majority of RNA transcripts have a regulatory role in the expression of genes. They control how and when the genetic information is expressed. Thus, the mRNA is the coding RNA while the RNAs that do not function as messengers for the synthesis of proteins are called ncRNA (noncoding RNA). tRNA (transfer RNA) and rRNA (ribosomal RNA) are the functionally important ncRNA as they are involved in protein synthesis. Other important ncRNAs are small RNAs like siRNA, piRNA, and miRNA. These short regulatory RNA molecules induce mRNA degradation or interfere in protein synthesis and thus, silence the gene expression. Some RNAs have therapeutic roles in disorders like cancer and infections also. Several long ncRNA (lncRNAs) play a key role in enhancing gene expression. Certain ncRNAs have an important role in the development of many endocrine organs and endocrine diseases like diabetes mellitus.