MicroRNAs研究方法与技术

MicroRNAs简称miRNAs(微小RNAs),是真核生物、原核生物以及病毒中由非编码蛋白基因转录的初级microRNAs加工成的调控因子.在转录后水平和蛋白质翻译水平,microRNAs通过降解或翻译抑制甚至激活来调控靶mRNA.实验和计算机方法已应用于microRNAs和靶基因的鉴定.大规模测序技术使得microRNAs在不同物种的多样性分析得以实现.着重介绍microRNAs、靶基因及其功能研究的实验技术和计算机方法,以及基于microRNAs的保守性,借助模式生物中已知的microRNAs,研究其在其他生物中的功能和作用.     

miRNA研究方法进展

miRNA（microRNA）是一类长约22个核苷酸的小分子非编码RNA。miRNA可以通过与靶基因mRNA的特定位点结合,抑制该蛋白的合成或诱导该mRNA的降解,从而参与基因的表达调控。miRNA在各种生物中普遍存在,近年来利用直接克隆和生物信息学方法已从动物、植物、培养细胞和病毒中克隆及预测了数百种miRNA,并通过正反向遗传学技术、碱基互补靶标基因鉴定技术等,确定了少数miRNA基因的生理功能：然而在不同生物中仍有大量的miRNA基因尚未鉴定,它们的靶标及功能也有待进一步探索。由于miRNA序列短小,而且与靶标互作机理所知甚少,因此研究难度较大。本文总结了miRNA基因鉴定、功能鉴定等所采用的研究方法和策略,试图为miRNA研究提供一些思路和启发。     

MicroRNA基因及其靶位点的单核苷酸多态性与疾病易感性

微小RNAs(MicroRNAs)是一类内源性19～25个核苷酸大小的非编码RNA分子,能够通过碱基匹配原则识别并结合于靶基因3'非翻译区的靶位点,从而抑制靶基因的翻译和/或促进靶基因降解。近年许多研究表明,单核苷酸多态性(single nucleotide polymorphisms,SNPs)可影响m icroRNA对靶基因的调控过程。SNPs可发生在m icroRNA基因(指在pri-,pre-and mature-miRNA序列中),也可发生在靶基因的3'非翻译区的靶位点。这些SNPs通过影响microRNA对靶基因的调控过程,参与许多疾病如肿瘤、神经系统疾病、肌肥大、心血管疾病以及2型糖尿病的发生发展过程。本文拟对MicroRNAs及其靶mRNA的结合位点SNPs与疾病的相关研究做一综述。     

植物MicroRNA的特点与研究方法

MicroRNAs(miRNAs)是一类在植物、动物、单细胞藻类和病毒等中存在的具有调控基因表达作用的内源非编码小RNA(small RNAs).在植物中,miRNAs主要依靠与靶基因之间完全或近乎完全的互补配对切割靶基因或翻译抑制实现其调控功能.主要综述植物miRNA的特点,并介绍miRNA的获得方式、靶基因预测及验证方法.     

MicroRNAs与病理性心肌肥厚关系的研究进展

MicroRNAs是内源性的小分子非编码RNA,长度约22个核苷酸,与调节基因的转录后修饰相关。单个microRNA可以调节多个基因的表达;同样,单个基因也受多个microRNAs的调控。MicroRNAs在心血管疾病中的作用受到越来越多的关注。MiR-133或miR-206等在心肌肥厚的发生中起抑制或促进作用。目前临床上已开展以microRNAs为靶点治疗心肌肥厚。本文从microRNAs在心肌肥厚中的作用,microRNAs影响的细胞内信号通路以及microRNAs作为治疗靶点的研究进展三个方面进行综述。     

microRNAs在肌肉中的作用研究进展

microRNAs是一类非蛋白质编码小RNA,通常作用于靶基因mRNA的3′-UTR区引起靶基因的翻译抑制或降解。microRNAs的表达具有组织特异性,骨骼肌和心肌中有特异microRNAs的表达。microRNAs在肌肉的增殖、分化等发育过程中发挥重要的调节作用,并且microRNAs的表达异常与某些肌肉疾病的病理过程有关。现就microRNAs在肌肉中的作用研究进展作一综述。     

家蚕Bmyan基因的克隆表达和作为microRNA 7靶基因的验证

microRNAs(miRNAs)是一类长约22 nt的非编码RNA,通过与其靶基因3′端非翻译区(3′-UTR)的结合来调节各项生命活动。克隆表达家蚕Bmyan基因,验证其是否是bmo-miR-7的靶基因对于深入研究家蚕变态发育机制有重要意义。基于同源性检索和PCR扩增,克隆了家蚕Bmyan基因CDS全长,编码476个氨基酸。序列分析表明,家蚕YAN蛋白的氨基酸序列保守,含SAM-PNT和ETs结构域。芯片数据、RT-PCR和定量PCR的检测结果表明,Bmyan在五龄3 d的家蚕头部、体壁、卵巢中高量表达,在其余组织中低量表达或不表达。在幼虫期,Bmyan表达水平相对较低,但在上蔟期和蛹期前4 d高量表达。通过3′RACE克隆了Bmyan基因的3′-UTR。RNAhybrid在线软件预测了其3'-UTR上bmo-miR-7的两个靶位点。构建了含有Bmyan基因3′-UTR和荧光素酶报告基因的转染载体,将该载体与bmo-miR-7的mimics序列共转染到家蚕胚胎细胞系BmE中,通过测定荧光素酶的活性,证明了Bmyan基因是bmo-miR-7的靶基因。本研究为进一步揭示bmo-miR-7和Bmyan在家蚕体内的生物学功能奠定了基础。     

miRNAs的表达调控机制

microRNAs(miRNAs)是一类在转录后基因调控中发挥功能的非编码小RNAs,在发育、生长和分化等过程中发挥重要作用.至今已经在动物、植物和微生物等不同生物体中鉴定出来数千种miRNAs. miRNAs可以通过降解mRNA或抑制蛋白翻译的方式调节特异基因表达.生物体内约30%的基因都受miRNAs的调节.miRNAs的表达与功能受到转录因子、表观遗传学、多核苷酸多态性及其RNA编辑等多种因素的调节.此外,特异miRNA基因敲除的成功为研究miRNAs功能提供了有力的实验模型.     

miR-122生物学功能及与肝脏疾病的关系

microRNAs是一类内源性非编码小分子单链RNA,通过与其靶基因相结合来降解mRNA或抑制靶基因的翻译从而对相关靶基因进行转录后的表达调控。微小核糖核酸-122(microRNA 122,miR-122)是肝脏特异性表达的microRNA。近年来,越来越多的研究表明,miR-122在生命体内具有复杂功能,并与人类多种疾病尤其是肝脏疾病有着密切的联系。作者就miR-122的生物学功能及其与疾病的关系作一综述。     

植物microRNAs在植物发育和非生物胁迫响应中的作用

microRNAs(miRNAs)是一类内源的长度约为22个核苷酸的非编码小分子RNA,其通过对靶基因mRNA进行切割或翻译抑制调节mRNA的表达,在植物中起到重要的作用.主要介绍了植物miRNAs的特征、合成和作用机制,综述了miRNAs在植物生长发育和非生物胁迫响应中的作用.     

Double-stranded regions are essential design components of potent inhibitors of RISC function

While microRNAs (miRNAs) are recognized as playing a critical role in regulating eukaryotic gene expression, both the mechanism by which these small, noncoding RNAs function and the genes they target remain elusive. Previous studies have shown that short, single-stranded 2'-O-methyl-modified oligonucleotides that are complementary to mature microRNA sequences can interact with the miRNA-RISC nucleoprotein complex and weakly inhibit miRNA function. Here we report the identification of secondary structural elements that enhance the potency of these molecules. Incorporation of highly structured, double-stranded flanking regions around the reverse complement core significantly increases inhibitor function and allows for multi-miRNA inhibition at subnanomolar concentrations. The improved functionality of these double-stranded miRNA inhibitors may provide insights into the miRNA mechanism by suggesting the possible importance of such structures in or near endogenous miRNA target sites.     

Computational identification of microRNA targets

Recent experiments have shown that the genomes of organisms such as worm, fly, human, and mouse encode hundreds of microRNA genes. Many of these microRNAs are thought to regulate the translational expression of other genes by binding to partially complementary sites in messenger RNAs. Phenotypic and expression analysis suggests an important role of microRNAs during development. Therefore, it is of fundamental importance to identify microRNA targets. However, no experimental or computational high-throughput method for target site identification in animals has been published yet. Our main result is a new computational method that is designed to identify microRNA target sites. This method recovers with high specificity known microRNA target sites that have previously been defined experimentally. Based on these results, we present a simple model for the mechanism of microRNA target site recognition. Our model incorporates both kinetic and thermodynamic components of target recognition. When we applied our method to a set of 74 Drosophila melanogaster microRNAs, searching 3'UTR sequences of a predefined set of fly mRNAs for target sites which were evolutionary conserved between D. melanogaster and Drosophila pseudoobscura, we found that many key developmental body patterning genes such as hairy and fushi-tarazu are likely to be translationally regulated by microRNAs.     

Prediction and validation of microRNAs and their targets

MicroRNAs are short non-coding RNAs that inhibit translation of target genes by binding to their mRNAs, and have been shown to play a central role in gene regulation in health and disease. Sophisticated computer-based prediction approaches of microRNAs and of their targets, and effective biological validation techniques for validating these predictions, now play a central role in discovery of microRNAs and elucidating their functions.     

Small RNAs as big players in plant abiotic stress responses and nutrient deprivation

Abiotic stress is one of the primary causes of crop losses worldwide. Much progress has been made in unraveling the complex stress response mechanisms, particularly in the identification of stress responsive protein-coding genes. In addition to protein coding genes, recently discovered microRNAs (miRNAs) and endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have emerged as important players in plant stress responses. Initial clues suggesting that small RNAs are involved in plant stress responses stem from studies showing stress regulation of miRNAs and endogenous siRNAs, as well as from target predictions for some miRNAs. Subsequent studies have demonstrated an important functional role for these small RNAs in abiotic stress responses. This review focuses on recent advances, with emphasis on integration of small RNAs in stress regulatory networks.     

Sweating the small stuff: microRNA discovery in plants

The class of small RNAs known as microRNAs (miRNAs) has a demonstrated role in the negative regulation of gene expression in both plants and animals. These small molecules have been shown to play a critical role in a wide range of developmental and physiological pathways. Although hundreds of different miRNAs have now been identified using cloning and computational approaches, characterization of their targets and biological roles has been more limited. New sequencing technologies promise to accelerate the sequencing of small RNAs and additional genetic and genomic strategies are being applied to assess their regulatory function on RNA targets. These technologies will enable the identification of large numbers of small RNAs from diverse species, and comparative genomics approaches based on these data are likely to identify additional miRNAs. Combined with bioinformatics and experimental approaches to separate miRNAs from short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the pace of miRNA discovery is likely to accelerate, leading to an improved understanding of miRNA function and biological significance.