According to Abbreviationfinder, the acronym RNA corresponds to ribonucleic acid, a substance that is present in eukaryotic cells and in prokaryotic cells. It is a nucleic acid: a polymer that is created by the succession of monomers known as nucleotides, which are linked through phosphodiester bonds.
In the case of RNA, the nucleotides it presents are ribonucleotides. In summary, it can be said that RNA is a nucleic acid composed of a series of ribonucleotides.
The RNA of the cells is single-stranded and linear. It may be responsible for the regulation of gene expression, the development of a catalysis or the transmission of essential data in the context of protein biosynthesis. RNA works in conjunction with DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid.
Each ribonucleotide in RNA is made up of three elements: a nitrogenous base (uracil, guanine, cytosine, or adenine), a phosphate group, and ribose. These ribonucleotides establish a chain via negatively charged phosphodiester linkages.
The linear sequence of ribonucleotides is known as the primary structure of RNA. From this structure, other levels emerge: the secondary structure (which arises from the pairing of the nitrogenous bases, whether as a loop, helix or otherwise) and the tertiary structure (product of the bonds in space established by the atoms that make up the molecule).
Similarly, one should not overlook the fact that there are four different nucleotide bases in RNA. We are referring to guanine, uracil, adenine, and unacytosine.
According to the function it performs in the cell, it is possible to distinguish between messenger RNA (it transfers information from DNA to the ribosome), ribosomal RNA (it composes ribosomes together with proteins), transfer RNA (it carries a certain amino acid to a polypeptide), interfering RNA (eliminates the expression of certain genes) and regulatory RNA (is responsible for the regulation of gene expression), among other types.
Giving more information about these types of RNA, we must clarify these relevant aspects:
-The so-called messenger RNA comes to be the one that carries the information of one or more genes and that, in addition, are those that encode proteins.
-Ribosomal or ribosomal RNA is the one that can act as a catalyst while adopting a stable tertiary or secondary structure.
Other types of RNA are these:
– The microRNA, which plays a fundamental role in what is the RNA interference process.
-Nucleolar RNA or snoRNA, which can be found in what is the nucleus of eukaryotic cells.
-LincRNA, which also responds to the name of intergenic non-coding RNA. The binding of DNA to DNA is considered to irreparably involve the pairing of RNA bases with the relevant DNA bases.
-TERC or telomerase RNA component.
In addition to all the above, we cannot forget the existence of what has been called the RNA World Hypothesis. This what comes to establish is that life on Earth began precisely from the activity carried out by RNA molecules. This led to the development of a membrane around it and that became the first prokaryotic cell.
