landscape of RNA types and their functions/ scRNA

Question

[Ariadna]

Dear colleagues,

As a newcomer to the bio-world, I have a question regarding different RNA types and their functions. While some of RNA are well described, it is hard to put everything in a single system. For instance, endogenous RNA - of what types of RNA the group consists and why are they called that way?

E.g. In a paper regarding scRNA analysis the authors write :

a low- mapping ratio of endogenous RNA to spike-ins would be an indication of a low-quality library caused by RNA degradation or inefficiently lysed cells

If anyone has suggestions on sources, which would put different RNA types and their functioning in a perspective which is easier to understand, that would be very helpful.

Many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

[ATpoint]

You are missing the point here. This statement you cite is not about RNA function. What people did there was to add synthetic RNA to the library prep as a reference for normalization. In contrast to that, the RNA from the cells is "endogenous" (as "inside" the cell) rather than added from "outside". It's an entirely technical thing with no biological meaning.

If you stars scRNA-seq, read: https://bioconductor.org/books/release/OSCA/