Abstract
A growing amount of evidence in the last few years has begun to unravel that non-coding RNAs have a myriad of functions in gene regulation. Intensive investigation on non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has led to exploring their broad role in neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) owing to their regulatory role in gene expression. RNA sequencing technologies and transcriptome analysis has unveiled significant dysregulation of ncRNAs attributed to their biogenesis, upregulation, downregulation, aberrant epigenetic regulation, and abnormal transcription. Despite these advances, the understanding of their potential as therapeutic targets and biomarkers underpinning detailed mechanisms is still unknown. Advancements in bioinformatics and molecular technologies have improved our knowledge of the dark matter of the genome in terms of recognition and functional validation. This review aims to shed light on ncRNAs biogenesis, function, and potential role in NDs. Further deepening of their role is provided through a focus on the most recent platforms, experimental approaches, and computational analysis to investigate ncRNAs. Furthermore, this review summarizes and evaluates well-studied miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs concerning their potential role in pathogenesis and use as biomarkers in NDs. Finally, a perspective on the main challenges and novel methods for the future and broad therapeutic use of ncRNAs is offered.
•Noncoding RNAs(ncRNAs), as genomic dark matter, does not express itself but regulate the expression of genes and ultimately proteins.•Exploring the ncRNAs broad role in neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) owing to regulators of gene expression.•In silico and in vitro methods to investigate the ncRNAs transcriptome, with a comprehensive overview of approaches and tools for characterizing noncoding RNA structure and investigative their role in neurodegenerative disease development.•Potential role of ncRNAs as biomarkers to diagnose the NDs.•Challenges and potential solutions to use ncRNAs for the treatment of NDs.