miRNA的研究进展

微小RNAs(microRNAs，miRNAs)是一类长度在22nt左右、能调节mRNAs表达的非编码RNA基因产物。miRNAs最初在线虫体内被发现，广泛存在于真核生物体内，对于生物体的发育等诸多方面有调节作用，并在进化中保守。miRNAs作用机制尚不完全清楚，但已知其能通过与mRNAs的3′非翻译区结合而影响翻译水平。部分miRNAs可以行使类似siRNAs的作用。本文就miRNAs的生物发生、作用机制、应用方向等研究进展作一综述。相信对miRNAs的深入认识将为基因功能研究提供新思路，同时也将为基因操作技术提供新的手段。

Advances in the studies of miRNAs

MicroRNAs(miRNAs) are about 22-nucleotides noncoding RNAs that regulate expression of mRNAs. miRNAs were firstly discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans. They are distributed among eukaryotes, and conserved during evolution. The mechanism of their function was not fully identified, but it has already known that they could influence mRNAs translation level via a complementary with the 3'-UTR of mRNAs. Besides, there are also some miRNAs that has been reported to carry out their function like siRNAs. In this paper, we summarize some recent progress on biogenesis, molecular mechanism, and application of miRNAs. With the deeply understanding of rniRNAs, there will be new view on the research of gene function, and miRNAs will be a potentially powerful method in gene operation.