From Translation to Causality: A Two-Axis Map of RNA-of-Origin and Output Attribution in Translated Non-Coding RNAs During Skeletal Muscle Myogenesis and Regeneration
- 1Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Preclinical Medicine, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi 563000, China
Abstract
Transcripts annotated as non-coding can yield both an RNA molecule and a translated product, complicating causal attribution in skeletal muscle. Three distinct claims require different evidence: a product exists, the nominated RNA generated it, and the product drives a defined phenotype. We examine them in myogenesis and regeneration using a qualitative, two-axis evidence map. The T axis records translation and RNA-of-origin evidence, whereas the F axis records experiments separating RNA-dependent from product-dependent effects for a stated model and endpoint. Endogenous coding-selective experiments support qualified product-dependent assignments for LINC00961–SPAR and MTLN/MPM. Linc-RAM/MRLN demonstrates biologically active RNA and peptide outputs, but not that both cause the same phenotype. Among the selected circRNA systems, circZNF609, circFAM188B, circNEB, and circSIK2 retain unresolved source and/or functional attribution, and none meets both T4 and F4. Rather than ranking study quality or assuming transfer across species and myogenic stages, the map identifies the experiment still needed to establish causality.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026from,
title = {{From Translation to Causality: A Two-Axis Map of RNA-of-Origin and Output Attribution in Translated Non-Coding RNAs During Skeletal Muscle Myogenesis and Regeneration}},
author = {Yueying Zhang and Keying Li and Xixi Yang and Wei Zhang and Mingtao Ma and Nanjian Luo},
journal = {Cells},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/cells15211981},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/15/21/1981},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - From Translation to Causality: A Two-Axis Map of RNA-of-Origin and Output Attribution in Translated Non-Coding RNAs During Skeletal Muscle Myogenesis and Regeneration
AU - Yueying Zhang
AU - Keying Li
AU - Xixi Yang
AU - Wei Zhang
AU - Mingtao Ma
AU - Nanjian Luo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Cells
DO - 10.3390/cells15211981
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/15/21/1981
AB - Transcripts annotated as non-coding can yield both an RNA molecule and a translated product, complicating causal attribution in skeletal muscle. Three distinct claims require different evidence: a product exists, the nominated RNA generated it, and the product drives a defined phenotype. We examine them in myogenesis and regeneration using a qualitative, two-axis evidence map. The T axis records translation and RNA-of-origin evidence, whereas the F axis records experiments separating RNA-dependent from product-dependent effects for a stated model and endpoint. Endogenous coding-selective experiments support qualified product-dependent assignments for LINC00961–SPAR and MTLN/MPM. Linc-RAM/MRLN demonstrates biologically active RNA and peptide outputs, but not that both cause the same phenotype. Among the selected circRNA systems, circZNF609, circFAM188B, circNEB, and circSIK2 retain unresolved source and/or functional attribution, and none meets both T4 and F4. Rather than ranking study quality or assuming transfer across species and myogenic stages, the map identifies the experiment still needed to establish causality.
SN - 2073-4409
ER -