表观遗传学: 生物细胞非编码RNA调控的研究进展

表观遗传学是研究基因表达发生了可遗传的改变, 而DNA序列不发生改变的一门生物学分支, 对细胞的生长分化及肿瘤的发生发展至关重要。表观遗传学的主要机制包括DNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰及新近发现的非编码RNA。非编码RNA 是指不能翻译为蛋白的功能性RNA分子, 其中常见的具调控作用的非编码RNA包括小干涉RNA、miRNA、piRNA 以及长链非编码RNA。近年来大量研究表明非编码RNA在表观遗传学的调控中扮演了越来越重要的角色。文章综述了近年来生物细胞非编码RNA调控的表观遗传学研究进展, 以有助于理解哺乳动物细胞中非编码RNA及其调控机制和功能。

Epigenetics: advances of non-coding RNAs regulation in mammalian cells

Epigenetics is the study of meiotically and mitotically heritable changes in gene expression that are not coded for in the underlying DNA sequence. The term epigenetics is derived from epi- (meaning upon) and genetics. Epigenetic regulation of mammalian gene expression has profound effects in controlling cell growth, differentiation and cancer development. The important epigenetic mechanisms include DNA cytosine methylation, histone modifications and the more recently discovered non-coding RNAs. Non-coding RNAs are functional RNA molecules that are not translated into proteins. The main classes of regulatory non-coding RNAs include siRNA, miRNA, piRNA and long non-coding RNAs. There is growing evidence that regulatory non-coding RNAs play essential roles in the regulation of gene expression and are impor-tant in mammalian development and disease processes. Here, we review current research efforts aimed at understanding non-coding RNAs and their mechanisms of function in mammalian cells.