哺乳动物自然反义RNA（NAT）生物学功能及其研究进展

Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are a group of RNAs that produce transcripts complementary to other RNA transcripts. Similar to mRNA, most of NATs are transcribed by RNA polymerase II. NATs have been identified in kinds of eukaryotes, including humans, mice and plants. NATs usually play crucial roles at the transcriptional level or post-transcriptional level in many biological pathways. There are several genes with NATs in mammals, such as growth hormone gene (GHR), insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2), muscle segment home-box genes (MSX1). This paper reviews the classification, biological function, mechanism of action, isoloation and detection methods of NATs, which could provide useful reference for identification and further function study of NATs.?????