A growing molecular toolbox for the functional analysis of microRNAs in Caenorhabditis elegans
A growing molecular toolbox for the functional analysis of microRNAs in Caenorhabditis elegans
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DOI：
10.1093/bfgp/elr012
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发表时间：
2011-07-01
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Esquela-Kerscher, Aurora
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jo, Jeanyoung;Esquela-Kerscher, Aurora
随着越来越多的microRNA（miRNAs）被发现，需要更多创新的分子工具来有效地表征这些小RNA在活体动物系统中的作用。秀丽隐杆线虫是研究miRNAs如何调节基因表达和控制发育和成年过程中各种生物学过程的有力模型。遗传策略，如线虫中的大规模miRNA缺失研究，已经取得了有限的成功，因为大多数miRNA基因在单独突变时不表现出表型。最近的研究表明，miRNA与其他小RNA和蛋白质编码基因在复杂的调控网络中发挥作用，因此，挑战将是揭示这些功能冗余。使用miRNA抑制剂如合成的反义2 '-O-甲基寡核糖核苷酸正在成为一种有前途的体内方法，以剖析miRNA调控的复杂性。
With the growing number of microRNAs (miRNAs) being identified each year, more innovative molecular tools are required to efficiently characterize these small RNAs in living animal systems. Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful model to study how miRNAs regulate gene expression and control diverse biological processes during development and in the adult. Genetic strategies such as large-scale miRNA deletion studies in nematodes have been used with limited success since the majority of miRNA genes do not exhibit phenotypes when individually mutated. Recent work has indicated that miRNAs function in complex regulatory networks with other small RNAs and protein-coding genes, and therefore the challenge will be to uncover these functional redundancies. The use of miRNA inhibitors such as synthetic antisense 2'-O-methyl oligoribonucleotides is emerging as a promising in vivo approach to dissect out the intricacies of miRNA regulation.