Abbreviation | Full name | Length (nt) | Function | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Small non-coding RNA | ||||
 miRNAs | microRNAs | 19–24 | lead to translational repression or degradation of the target mRNA | |
 piRNAs | Piwi-interacting RNAs | 21–35 | are loaded onto members of the PIWI subfamily of Argonaute proteins to repress transposons in germline cells | |
 snoRNAs | Small nucleolar RNAs | 60–300 | act as guide RNAs for the post-transcriptional modification of ribosomal and small nuclear RNAs | |
 tRFs | Transfer RNA-derived RNA fragments | 14–30 | like miRNAs, tRFs interact with Argonaute proteins to impair the translation of mRNAs through binding to target 3′ UTRs | |
Long non-coding RNA | ||||
 NATs | Natural antisense transcripts | >  200 | transcribed in the antisense direction of overlapping protein-coding genes | are involved in chromatin remodeling, transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation, as well as translation and post-translational modifications |
 Pseudogenes | Pseudogenes | >  200 | a subclass of the lncRNAs that resemble the protein-coding genes from which they are derived, but no longer produce functional proteins | |
 lincRNAs | long intergenic ncRNAs | >  200 | transcribed from intergenic regions | |
 SNHGs | Small nucleolar RNA host genes | >  200 | a type of lncRNA that contains both snoRNAs (which are produced from introns) and exons | |
Circular RNA | ||||
 circRNAs | Circular RNAs | > 32 | A type of covalently closed ncRNA that may interact with other molecules like miRNAs and proteins to regulate their functions |