Identification of microRNAs involved in the development of diabetic nephropathy

MicroRNAs （miRs）是一类非编码RNA，通过引起信使RNA降解或阻断蛋白质翻译来抑制靶基因的表达。我们利用从全肾和离体肾小球中提取的RNA，通过微阵列和实时RT-PCR分析了两种秋田糖尿病小鼠模型中miRs的特异性表达，这些模型具有不同的糖尿病肾病易感性，肾病抗性C57BL/6-秋田和肾病易感性KK/ ta -秋田。在全肾和肾小球中均发现了C57BL/6-秋田和KK/ ta -秋田表达水平不同的miRs。这些结果表明，鉴定的miRs可能在糖尿病肾病的发生和进展中发挥重要作用。

MicroRNAs (miRs) are a family of non-coding RNAs and inhibit target gene expression by causing messenger RNA degradation or by blocking protein translation. We analysed the specific expression of miRs by microarray and real-time RT-PCR using RNA extracted from whole kidneys and isolated glomeruli in two Akita diabetic mouse models which have different susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy, nephropathy-resistant C57BL/6-Akita and nephropathy-prone KK/Ta-Akita. Several miRs whose expression levels are different between C57BL/6-Akita and KK/Ta-Akita were identified in both whole kidney and glomerulus. These results indicate that the identified miRs may play an important role in the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy.