Long non-coding RNAs (long ncRNAs, lncRNA) are a type of RNA, generally defined as transcripts more than 200 nucleotides that are not translated into protein. This arbitrary limit distinguishes long ncRNAs from small non-coding RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), and other short RNAs. Given that some lncRNAs have been reported to have the potential to encode small proteins or micro-peptides, the latest definition of lncRNA is a class of transcripts of over 200 nucleotides that have no or limited coding capacity. However, John S. Mattick and colleagues suggested to change definition of long non-coding RNAs to transcripts more than 500 nt, which are mostly generated by Pol II. That means that question of lncRNA exact definition is still under discussion in the field. Long intervening/intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) are sequences of transcripts that do not overlap protein-coding genes.
Long non-coding RNAs include intergenic lincRNAs, intronic ncRNAs, and sense and antisense lncRNAs, each type showing different genomic positions in relation to genes and exons.
