Characterization and identification of functional elements in non-coding DNA sequences

The non-coding DNA sequences refer to non-protein-coding DNA sequences in genome. These sequences can bind with transcription factors or be transcribed as functional RNAs, thus participating in the regulation of many physiological activities and pathological processes. Aiming at gene expression regulation, this review focuses on the recent progress of non-coding DNA and illustrates their structures, functions and potential acting mechanisms. Meanwhile, some computational and experimental methods of identifying functional elements in the non-coding DNAs are introduced. Finally, further studies in this field are proposed.