ABSTRACT
Abstract Cellular specialization and its functionality are determined by organization of diverse types of interacting elements forming biological networks. Of these interacting elements, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have emerged as key regulators of biological networks by modulating gene expression at various levels. The ncRNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs), piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and transcription initiation RNAs (tiRNAs) have been observed to regulate cellular development, differentiation and many more biological processes. The deregulation of these ncRNAs that form regulatory circuits by interacting with other groups of ncRNAs and coding transcripts affect biological networks leading to alteration and abnormalities in cellular activity causing diseases, such as cancers. Thus, conceptualizing ncRNA-mediated regulatory networks incorporating inferences from high-throughput data and interactomics is crucial to understand cellular behavior in different conditions. Here, we have provided snapshots of ncRNA-mediated regulatory networks operating at transcriptional and post-transcriptional level and have discussed modern technologies and available resources needed for ncRNA-mediated interactomics and network study. Moreover, different types of network properties such as topology, cluster, module, motif, dynamics and evolution as well as their significance in illustrating and interpreting regulatory pathways have been discussed in this chapter.
