Topics and Trends in Most Cited RNA Research and Splicing Papers

Ranked by citations 18 months after publication

Class of 2026 (Papers Published in 2024)

What topics and trends defined most-cited RNA Research and Splicing research in the Class of 2026?

Biomolecular condensates and RNA stability mechanisms dominated the Class of 2026. The most striking shift was the surge in fluorogenic aptamers, spliceosome assembly, and neurodevelopmental disorders, while general RNA-binding protein studies declined as research pivoted toward targeted molecular mechanisms and AI-driven structural predictions.

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Updated July 21, 2026

At a glance

Field
RNA Research and Splicing
Cohort label
Class of 2026 (2024 publications)
Papers analyzed
7,854
Papers ranked
20
Top topics in ranked papers
Biomolecular condensate, RNA stability, Fluorogenic aptamers, Neurodevelopmental disorders, Spliceosome
Publication window
Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
Eligibility
Research articles; reviews excluded
Citation window
18 months post-publication
18m citation range
61–148
Data source
OpenAlex · Retrieved June 2026
License
CC BY 4.0

Rankings

20 papers ranked by 18-month citation count

#1 of 7,854
14818m citations

The diversity of splicing modifiers acting on A -1 bulged 5 -splice sites reveals rules for rational drug design

Florian Malard et al.HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)202410.1093/nar

Florian MalardIECB, France

splicing modifiersA-1 bulged 5'-splice sitesrational drug designsplice site recognitionU1 snRNA base pairingbulged adenosinespliceosome assemblysplicing correctionsmall molecule modulatorssplice site strengthexon inclusionRNA splicingstructure-activity relationshipsU1 snRNPcryptic splice sites
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#2 of 7,854
10018m citations

rMATS-turbo: an efficient and flexible computational tool for alternative splicing analysis of large-scale RNA-seq data

Yuanyuan Wang, Zhijie Xie et al.Nature Protocols202410.1038/s41596-023-00944-2

Yi XingUniversity of California, Los Angeles, United States

rMATS-turboalternative splicingRNA sequencingsplicing event detectionexon skippingintron retentionalternative 5' splice sitealternative 3' splice sitemutually exclusive exonsdifferential splicing analysislarge-scale transcriptome datacomputational efficiencyread mappingjunction readssplicing quantificationisoform expressionstatistical model for splicing
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#3 of 7,854
10018m citations

SQANTI3: curation of long-read transcriptomes for accurate identification of known and novel isoforms

Francisco J Pardo-Palacios, Angeles Arzalluz-Luque et al.Nature Methods202410.1038/s41592-024-02229-2

Ana ConesaSpanish National Research Council, Spain

SQANTI3long-read transcriptomesthird-generation sequencingtranscript model curationisoform identificationquality controlsplice junction annotationtranscript end annotationartifact detectionfunctional annotationiso-transcriptomics
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#5 of 7,854
9418m citations

Targeting the transferrin receptor to transport antisense oligonucleotides across the mammalian blood-brain barrier

Scarlett J Barker et al.Science Translational Medicine202410.1126/scitranslmed.adi2245

Scarlett J. Barker, Mai B. Thayer, Chaeyoung Kim, David TatarakisDenali Therapeutics Inc., United States

antisense oligonucleotidesblood-brain barriertransferrin receptor 1oligonucleotide transport vehicleTfR mu/hu KI miceMALAT1systemic deliveryintrathecal deliveryCNS biodistributionendothelial cellsneuronsastrocytesmicrogliaoligodendrocytescynomolgus macaquesbivalent TfR antibodyRNA interferenceintravenous injectionquadriceps musclecardiac muscle
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#6 of 7,854
8918m citations

De novo variants in the RNU4-2 snRNA cause a frequent neurodevelopmental syndrome

Ruebena Dawes, Hyung Chul Kim, Alicia Ljungdahl, Sarah L Stenton, Susan Walker et al.Nature202410.1038/s41586-024-07773-7

Ruebena Dawes, Hyung Chul Kim, Alicia Ljungdahl, Sarah L Stenton, Susan WalkerUniversity of Oxford, United Kingdom

RNU4-2U4 small nuclear RNAneurodevelopmental disordersde novo variantsU4/U6.U5 tri-snRNPmajor spliceosomen.64_65insTT-loopstem IIIU4/U6 snRNA duplexmaternal allele bias5' splice-sitespliceosome activationnon-coding RNAgenome sequencing cohortsRNA sequencingRNU4-1developing human brain expression
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#7 of 7,854
8818m citations

RNA-driven phase transitions in biomolecular condensates

Gable M Wadsworth et al.Molecular Cell202410.1016/j.molcel.2024.09.005

Priya R. BanerjeeThe State University of New York at Buffalo, United States

RNA phase transitionsbiomolecular condensatePhase separationRNA-protein interactionmultivalent interactionsintrinsically disordered regionsribonucleoprotein granulesstress granulesP-bodiesnucleolusRNA scaffoldingcondensate material propertiesRNA sequence specificityRNA secondary structureheterotypic interactionscondensate assemblyRNA concentration dependence
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#9 of 7,854
7718m citations

Mis-spliced transcripts generate de novo proteins in TDP-43–related ALS/FTD

Sahba Seddighi et al.Science Translational Medicine202410.1126/scitranslmed.adg7162

Sahba Seddighi, Yue Qi, Anna‐Leigh Brown, Leonard Petrucelli, Pietro Fratta, Michael E. WardNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, United States

TDP-43cryptic exonsamyotrophic lateral sclerosisfrontotemporal dementiaaberrant splicingde novo proteinshuman iPSC-derived neuronscerebrospinal fluidTDP-43 depletionTDP-43 pathologycryptic peptidestranscript variantscoordinated transcriptomic and proteomic studiespostmortem brain tissueprotein-protein interactionsALS/FTD pathophysiologycryptic exon translationCSF biomarkers
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#10 of 7,854
7518m citations

Spatially exploring RNA biology in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues

Zhiliang Bai et al.Cell202410.1016/j.cell.2024.09.001

Zhiliang Bai, Mingyao Li, Yi Xing, Jun Lü, Mina L. Xu, Rong FanYale University, United States

Patho-DBiTFFPE tissuesdeterministic barcoding in tissuein situ polyadenylationspatial whole transcriptome sequencingRNA processingsplicing isoformssingle-nucleotide RNA variantsmalignant subcloneshuman lymphomasmicroRNA regulatory networksRNA splicing dynamicsspatial tumorigenesissingle-cell level spatial transcriptomicstumor clonal architecturespatiotemporal cellular dynamicsclinical tumor tissuesarchival tissue analysis
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#11 of 7,854
7418m citations

Transcriptome-wide splicing network reveals specialized regulatory functions of the core spliceosome

Estefania Mancini, Sophie Bonnal et al.Science202410.1126/science.adn8105

Malgorzata Ewa Rogalska, Estefanía Mancini, Sophie Bonnal, Juan ValcárcelCentre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Spain

spliceosomeRNA splicingalternative splicingU4/U6.U5 tri-snRNPU1 snRNPsplice site pairingexon definitionalternative 5' splice site selectiontranscriptome-wide analysissystematic knock downsplicing factor networkssplicing factor cross-regulationintron removalspliceosome componentssplicing regulatorscore spliceosome
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#12 of 7,854
7018m citations

Global impact of unproductive splicing on human gene expression

Benjamin Fair, Carlos F Buen Abad Najar et al.Nature Genetics202410.1038/s41588-024-01872-x

Yang LiUniversity of Chicago, United States

alternative splicingnonsense-mediated decayunproductive splicingunproductive transcriptsAS-NMDproteomic diversityGene regulationpopulation-scale genomic datamulti-intronic genesgenetic variation across cell linesGWAS trait-associated lociprotein isoform usagetranscript degradationcytoplasmic decaysteady-state RNANMD-induced expression changes
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#13 of 7,854
7018m citations

m6A sites in the coding region trigger translation-dependent mRNA decay

You Zhou et al.Molecular Cell202410.1016/j.molcel.2024.10.033

Kathi Zarnack, Julian KönigGoethe University Frankfurt, Germany

N6-methyladenosinecoding sequence (CDS)CDS-m6A decay (CMD)translation-dependent mRNA decayribosome pausingP-bodiesYTHDF2m6A reader protein3' untranslated regionmRNA stabilitydevelopmental regulatorsretrogenesm6A depositiontranscript destabilizationinternal RNA modification
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#14 of 7,854
6918m citations

Multi-purpose RNA language modelling with motif-aware pretraining and type-guided fine-tuning

Ning Wang et al.Nature Machine Intelligence202410.1038/s42256-024-00836-4

Linghe Kong, Haoyi XiongBaidu Inc., China

RNAErnieRNA language modeltransformer architecturemotif-aware pretrainingRNA motifsmotif-level random maskingmasked language modelingRNA type tokenizationmiRNALong non-coding RNAtype-guided fine-tuningout-of-distribution generalizationRNA type predictionpost hoc feature embedding refinementRNA sequence classificationRNA interaction predictionRNA structure predictionnucleotide sequence analysisbiological priors in pretraining
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#15 of 7,854
6918m citations

RNA m5C oxidation by TET2 regulates chromatin state and leukaemogenesis

Zhongyu Zou, Xiaoyang Dou, Ying Li et al.Nature202410.1038/s41586-024-07969-x

Mingjiang Xu, Chuan HeThe University of Chicago, United States

TET2RNA m5C oxidationchromatin state regulationmyeloid malignancyMBD6H2AK119ub deubiquitinationretrotransposon RNADNA 5-methylcytosine oxidationhaematopoietic stem cell self-renewalopen chromatinmethyl-CpG-binding-domain proteinmonoubiquitinated Lys119 of histone H2ATET2-mutant leukaemiaTET2 deficiencygene activation pathwayleukaemogenesishaematopoiesis defectstherapeutic target
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#16 of 7,854
6618m citations

Identification of RNA structures and their roles in RNA functions

Xinang Cao, Yueying Zhang et al.Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology202410.1038/s41580-024-00748-6

Yue WanGenome Institute of Singapore, Singapore

RNA structuresRNA functionsstructure-function relationshipsRNA foldingsecondary structure predictiontertiary structureRNA structural motifsstructure probingSHAPEDMS-seqicSHAPEribosome profilingRNA-binding proteinriboswitchesUTR regulatory elementstranslational regulationRNA stabilitycomputational structure predictionphylogenetic covariation
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#17 of 7,854
6418m citations

miRNATissueAtlas 2025: an update to the uniformly processed and annotated human and mouse non-coding RNA tissue atlas

Shusruto Rishik et al.Nucleic Acids Research202410.1093/nar/gkae1036

Shusruto RishikSaarland University, Germany

miRNAnon-coding RNAmiRNATissueAtlasHomo sapiensMus musculustissue-specific expressionuniform pre-processinglabel harmonizationtissue specificity indexextracellular vesiclescell linescross-species comparisonncRNA expression atlastranslational research resourcemiRNA expression datasets
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#18 of 7,854
6218m citations

Nuclear export of circular RNA

Linh H Ngo et al.Nature202410.1038/s41586-024-07060-5

Gregory J. Goodall, Vihandha O. WickramasinghePeter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia

circular RNAnuclear exportRNA localizationnuclear-cytoplasmic transportcircRNA biogenesisexport machineryRNA export factorssubcellular localization
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#19 of 7,854
6118m citations

On the genetic basis of tail-loss evolution in humans and apes

Weimin Zhang, Guisheng Zhao, Xinru Zhang et al.Nature202410.1038/s41586-024-07095-8

Bo Xia, Jef D. Boeke, Itai YanaiNYU Langone Health, United States

tail-loss evolutionhominoidsAlu element insertionTBXT genealternative splicingexon skippingTbxt isoformsmouse modelsembryonic tail budtail-loss phenotypeneural tube defectshuman bipedalismintronic Alu pairingreverse genomic orientationhominoid-specific splicingadaptive costanthropomorphous apes
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#20 of 7,854
6118m citations

Single-cell long-read sequencing-based mapping reveals specialized splicing patterns in developing and adult mouse and human brain

Anoushka Joglekar et al.Nature Neuroscience202410.1038/s41593-024-01616-4

Hagen TilgnerWeill Cornell Medicine, United States

single-cell long-read sequencingRNA isoformsbrain isoform mapcell-type-specific splicingtranscription start site variationpolyadenylation site variationneurotransmitter transport genessynapse turnover genespostnatal day 21-to-postnatal day 28 transitionadolescent brain developmentdevelopmental isoform regulationregional isoform regulationmouse brainhuman hippocampuscross-species isoform conservationhuman-specific isoformsfull-length isoform expressionprotein architecture variationdisease-causing variantscell subtype isoform variability
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Dominant research themes and year-over-year shifts in RNA Research and Splicing

What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 in RNA Research and Splicing is defined by an overarching focus on dynamic physical structures and regulatory control mechanisms governing post-transcriptional expression. Biomolecular condensates lead the field as the single most prominent concept, featured in 8% of top-ranked publications, emphasizing how liquid-liquid phase separation organizes cellular machinery for RNA metabolism. Closely coupled with phase behavior are core post-transcriptional processes: RNA stability, mRNA stability, and RNA localization each account for 6% of top papers, highlighting an active research focus on intracellular transport and turnover dynamics. Emerging technological and disease frontiers are also strongly represented. Fluorogenic aptamers featured prominently in 6% of papers, reflecting rapid adoption of novel live-cell RNA imaging tools. Simultaneously, the spliceosome complex and its involvement in neurodevelopmental disorders emerged as key disease mechanisms, alongside N6-methyladenosine (m6A) epitranscriptomic modifications. Together, these foundational topics illustrate how structural biophysics, RNA modification, and imaging technologies converge to unravel regulatory networks in health and disease.

Leading research themes
Leading research themes

How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

The transition from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026 reveals a significant shift toward precision RNA biophysics and neurodevelopmental pathology. Most notably, fluorogenic aptamers, spliceosome structural biology, neurodevelopmental disorders, and RNA localization emerged as major new focal points, climbing from absence in previous cohorts to being featured in 6% of top publications. Similarly, specialized concepts such as masked language modeling for RNA structure prediction, de novo variant identification, nuclear speckles, and RNU4-2 snRNA entered the top rankings, demonstrating the integration of machine learning and genomic sequencing in splicing studies. In contrast, broader foundational terms experienced relative declines in mention frequency. General RNA-binding protein studies fell by 66% (from 12% to 4%), while phase separation (-40%), N6-methyladenosine (-25%), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (-50%) saw moderate consolidation. This realignment indicates that research has evolved from broad descriptive characterizations of phase separation toward highly specialized molecular mechanisms and diagnostic applications.

How topics shifted year over year
How topics shifted year over year
Methodology

PRI identifies high-impact research using a transparent, topic-agnostic framework applied consistently across scientific domains. Bibliographic records are drawn from OpenAlex, including publication dates, citation relationships, and document types.

This ranking covers the Class of 2026 cohort: journal articles published in 2024. Reviews and other non-article document types are excluded to ensure comparability.

Research impact is quantified with an 18-month post-publication citation window—the number of citing works published within 18 months of each paper's publication date. This metric captures early impact while controlling for publication age.

An LLM-based relevance classifier then reviews each candidate's title and abstract to confirm substantive alignment with the target domain. Only papers classified as relevant appear in the final ranking.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459

Full methodologyGitHubbioRxiv preprint

Cite this ranking

Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited RNA Research and Splicing Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/rna-research-and-splicing/2026. Accessed 2026-07-21.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459