Mini-reviewProtein functional effector sncRNAs (pfeRNAs) in lung cancer

•Protein functional effector sncRNA (pfeRNA) is a novel type of functional sncRNA.•PfeRNAs have unique features in size distribution, shared core sequences, and functional manner.•PfeRNAs are expected to uncover unknown phosphorylated sites, to be non-invasive biomarkers and to be therapeutic targets in lung cancer.

PIWI-interacting RNA Likes (piR-Ls) were recently reported to regulate functions of their target phospho-Proteins (p-Proteins) in somatic lung cells. However, the mechanism underlying this functionality remains unclear. piR-Ls interact with their targets through direct binding but do not follow base-pairing rules, known to have important roles at levels of transcription, RNA processing and translation for small non-coding RNA (sncRNA). These observations imply a fundamentally different type of sncRNA with behavior that causes a molecular response in their target p-Proteins. Furthermore, the interaction of piR-Ls with their targets regulates the functional efficacy of target p-Proteins. In addition, except for writers (kinase) and erasers (phosphatase), the functional efficacy of p-Proteins on their readers still remains unknown. It is reasonable to consider the existence of protein functional effector sncRNAs (pfeRNAs), which were identified by deep sequencing the immunoprecipitation products of antibodies targeting phosphorylated residues in proteins, as well as by functional analysis. pfeRNAs harbor unique features in size distribution, 3′ terminal modification, shared core sequences, and functional manner, and could be new players in lung physiological and pathological conditions.