Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have become increasingly important in the past decade. They are known to regulate gene expression and to interact with chromatin, proteins and other coding and non-coding RNAs. The study of lncRNAs has been challenging due to their low expression and the lack of tools developed to adapt to their particular features. Studies on lncRNAs performed to date have largely focused on cellular functions, whereas details on the mechanism of action has only been thoroughly investigated for a small number of lncRNAs. Nevertheless, some studies have highlighted the potential of these transcripts to contain functional domains, following the same accepted trend as proteins. Interestingly, many of these identified “domains” are attributed to functional units derived from transposable elements. Here, we review several types of functions of lncRNAs and relate these functions to lncRNA-embedded transposable elements.

长的非编码RNA（lncRNA）在过去十年中变得越来越重要。已知它们可调节基因表达并与染色质，蛋白质以及其他编码和非编码RNA相互作用。lncRNA的研究由于其低表达和缺乏开发用于适应其特定特征的工具而一直具有挑战性。迄今为止，对lncRNA的研究主要集中在细胞功能上，而作用机制的细节仅针对少量lncRNA进行了彻底研究。然而，一些研究强调了这些转录本可能包含功能性结构域，遵循与蛋白质相同的趋势。有趣的是，这些确定的“域”中的许多都归因于可转座因子衍生的功能单元。这里，