In silico discovery of human natural antisense transcripts

Background: Several high-throughput searches for ppotential natural antisense transcripts (NATs) have been performed recently, but most of the reports were focused on cis type. A thorough in silico analysis of human transcripts will help expand our knowledge of NATs. Results: We have identified 568 NATs from human RefSeq RNA sequences. Among them, 403 NATs are reported for the first time, and at least 157 novel NATs are trans type. According to the pairing region of a sense and antisense RNA pair, hNATs are divided into 6 classes, of which about 87% involve 5' or 3' UTR sequences, supporting the regulatory role of UTRs. Among a total of 535 NAT pairs related with splice variants, 77.4% (414/535) have their pairing regions affected or completely eliminated by alternative splicing, suggesting significant relationship of alternative splicing and antisense-directed regulation. The extensive occurrence of splice variants in hNATs and other multiple pairing patterns results in a o...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: BMCBI
• Authors: Yuan-Yuan Li, Lei Qin, Zong-Ming Guo, Lei Liu, Hao Xu, Pei Hao, Jiong Su, Yixiang Shi, Wei-Zhong He, Yi-Xue Li
• Keywords: BMCBI 2006, Complex Regulation Networks, NATs, Transcripts