Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is once thought to be the genome transcriptional "noise". However, it has received considerable attention in the past few years and is emerging as potentially important player in biological regulation. Recent studies have revealed that increasing number of lncRNA plays pivotal roles in regulating the gene expression which involves in the development of the human disease. Functions of lncRNA include 3 types of interaction: RNA-RNA, RNA-DNA, and RNA-protein, which may participate in gene expression regulation through epigenetic modifications, transcriptional regulation, post-transcriptional regulation, acting as biological media. Due to the prevalence of obesity and related diseases, some attempts have been done to explore the pathogenesis of obesity from the field of noncoding RNA. Several lncRNAs have been identified to be involved in the regulation of the adipogenesis (white adipose tissue and brown adipose tissue) and energy metabolism. In this review, we summarized recent advances of lncRNAs to provide a new sight for the mechanism of obesity.
长链非编码RNA(long noncoding RNA，lncRNA)曾一度被认为是基因组转录“噪音”，然而近年来大量研究证实其能调节基因表达，参与人类众多疾病的发生发展。LncRNA可分别与蛋白、DNA和RNA相互作用，通过表观修饰水平、转录水平、转录后水平调节以及充当生物媒介等方面参与基因表达的调控。近年来随着肥胖及相关疾病的发生率越来越高以及其对人类健康和社会发展产生的严重影响，科学家们也试图进一步从非编码RNA领域来探索肥胖的发病机制。越来越多的lncRNA被证实参与对脂肪组织(白色脂肪和棕色脂肪)成脂、发育以及能量代谢的调控。.