近日，中国科学院北京基因组研究所基因组科学与信息重点实验室的“百人计划”研究员章张及其团队，与沙特阿卜杜拉国王科技大学（King Abdullah University of Science and Technology）开展科研合作，对长非编码RNA的分类问题进行了系统综述，相关论文在RNA Biology发表。
长非编码RNA是近期发现的一大类非编码RNA（长度普遍大于200nt，故笼统称之为长非编码RNA）。其在细胞内普遍转录并大量存在，并在多个生命过程中发挥重要作用。
根据目前所得数据，长非编码RNA缺乏显著序列特征，与蛋白编码RNA及miRNA相比较，其物种间序列保守性较差，严重阻碍了大规模生物信息学及功能研究。为促进长非编码RNA的生物学特征及生物学意义的研究，研究人员从基因组位置、对DNA序列的影响、功能分类、与靶基因结合特征等不同方面探讨了长非编码RNA的分类，并研究了不同分类方法之间所存在的联系。
长非编码RNA的准确分类将对某一类特定长非编码RNA的研究、在不同类别的长非编码RNA上提出假设及挖掘长非编码RNA功能等方面提供有力的帮助与借鉴，因而在长非编码RNA的研究上具有重要意义。（生物谷Bioon.com）
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On the classification of long non-coding RNAs.
Ma L, Bajic VB, Zhang Z.
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been found to perform various functions in a wide variety of important biological processes. To make easier interpretation of lncRNA functionality and conduct deep mining on these transcribed sequences, it is convenient to classify lncRNAs into different groups. Here, we summarize classification methods of lncRNAs according to their four major features, namely, genomic location and context, effect exerted on DNA sequences, mechanism of functioning and their targeting mechanism. In combination with the presently available function annotations, we explore potential relationships between different classification categories, and generalize and compare biological features of different lncRNAs within each category. Finally, we present our view on potential further studies. We believe that the classifications of lncRNAs as indicated above are of fundamental importance for lncRNA studies, helpful for further investigation of specific lncRNAs, for formulation of new hypothesis based on different features of lncRNA and for exploration of the underlying lncRNA functional mechanisms.
