The universal expression of various non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) is now considered the main feature of organisms' genomes. Many regions in the genome are transcribed but not annotated to encode proteins, yet contain small open reading frames (smORFs). A widely accepted opinion is that a vast majority of ncRNAs are not further translated. However, increasing evidence underlines a series of intriguing translational events from the ncRNAs, which were previously considered to lack coding potential. Recent studies also suggest that products derived from such novel translational events display important regulatory functions in many fundamental biological and pathological processes. Here we give a critical review on the potential coding capacity of ncRNAs, in particular, about what is known and unknown in this emerging area. We also discuss the possible underlying coding mechanisms of these extraordinary ncRNAs and possible roles of peptides or proteins derived from the ncRNAs in disease development and theranostics. Our review offers an extensive resource for studying the biology of ncRNAs and sheds light into the use of ncRNAs and their corresponding peptides or proteins for disease diagnosis and therapy.

中文翻译：

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非编码RNA的编码活性

如今，各种非编码RNA（ncRNA）的普遍表达被认为是生物体基因组的主要特征。基因组中的许多区域都被转录但未注释为编码蛋白质，但仍包含小的开放阅读框（smORF）。广泛接受的意见是，绝大多数ncRNA均未进一步翻译。然而，越来越多的证据强调了来自ncRNA的一系列有趣的翻译事件，这些事件以前被认为缺乏编码潜力。最近的研究还表明，衍生自此类新颖翻译事件的产物在许多基本生物学和病理学过程中均显示出重要的调节功能。在这里，我们对ncRNA的潜在编码能力进行了严格的审查，特别是关于该新兴领域已知和未知的事物。我们还讨论了这些非凡ncRNA的可能的潜在编码机制，以及源自ncRNA的肽或蛋白质在疾病发展和诊断学中的可能作用。我们的综述为研究ncRNA的生物学提供了广泛的资源，并为ncRNA及其相应的肽或蛋白质在疾病诊断和治疗中的应用提供了启示。