The role of microRNA regulation in the evolution of development

microRNA调控在发育进化中的作用

• 批准号: 1024811
• 负责人: Veronica Hinman
• 金额: $ 52.03万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1024811&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: role; microRNA; regulation; evolution; development

A class of small RNAs, called microRNAs (miRNAs), has recently been discovered and has been shown to regulate gene expression by binding to the untranslated regions of transcribed genes leading to degradation and/or repression of protein formation. Much remains to be discovered of exactly how these miRNAs function, and consequently very little is known about the importance of miRNA regulation to development and the generation of morphology. MiRNAs evolve rapidly compared to coding genes and they may also acquire and lose targets more rapidly so that they could provide a source of significant variation during evolution. This project will use a variety of molecular and computational approaches to examine the functional role of miRNAs in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, which was chosen for this study because it has an extremely well characterized gene regulatory network for early development. It will also be determined how this regulation may have evolved, and what developmental consequences this may have, by testing whether miRNAs regulate similar genes in other echinoderms, specifically in the closely related sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus and the distantly related sea star Asterina miniata. A great deal is known of how transcription factor based gene regulatory networks have evolved between the sea star and sea urchins and the consequences of this for their development. It is anticipated that this project will reveal how miRNA regulation can control development and how it changes over evolutionary time in the context of a gene regulatory network. Several women graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in a variety of experimental and computational techniques. Also the PI and graduate students in the PI's lab will run a short lab and lecture course at Ringold High School to introduce these students to the concepts of computational and developmental biology.

最近发现了一类称为microRNA（miRNAs）的小RNA，并且已经显示其通过与转录基因的非翻译区结合导致蛋白质形成的降解和/或抑制来调节基因表达。这些miRNA的确切功能仍有待发现，因此关于miRNA调控对发育和形态产生的重要性知之甚少。 与编码基因相比，miRNA进化迅速，并且它们也可以更快地获得和失去靶标，因此它们可以在进化过程中提供显著变异的来源。 该项目将使用各种分子和计算方法来研究海胆Strongylocentrotus purpuratus中miRNAs的功能作用，该研究选择该海胆是因为它具有非常好的早期发育基因调控网络。 还将通过测试miRNA是否调节其他棘皮动物中的类似基因来确定这种调节是如何进化的，以及这可能产生什么样的发育后果，特别是在密切相关的海胆Lytechinus variegatus和远亲的海星星Asterina miniata中。 关于基于转录因子的基因调控网络如何在海星星和海胆之间进化以及这对它们的发育的影响，我们已经知道了很多。 预计该项目将揭示miRNA调控如何控制发育，以及在基因调控网络的背景下，它如何随进化时间而变化。几名女研究生和女本科生将接受各种实验和计算技术的培训。 此外，PI和PI实验室的研究生将在Ringold高中开设一个简短的实验室和讲座课程，向这些学生介绍计算和发育生物学的概念。