Identification of mechanism(s) of miRNA- mediated repression of translation

最近，一种全新的控制基因表达的方法被发现。这是在发现了一类全新的由非常小的RNA分子组成的基因之后才发现的，这种基因不像大多数基因那样产生蛋白质。人类基因组中至少有800个这样的小RNA分子，它们有不同的作用。它们的工作原理是与其他基因的mRNA结合，抑制目标基因转化为蛋白质。据信，这800个小分子中的每一个都与另外100个基因相互作用，从而增加了人类基因组调控的复杂性。已经很清楚的是，miRNA调节的功能障碍与越来越多的人类疾病有关，包括：癌症；糖尿病;还有病毒感染。2002年，《科学》杂志称miRNA为当年的突破，这些小RNA分子被称为“细胞中的暗物质”。目前科学界对这些小RNA分子如何抑制基因表达存在很大争议。世界各地的实验室对这种抑制机制的作用给出了相互矛盾的数据，并且未能复制彼此的数据。我们第一次能够展示抑制机制的运作，并确定这些差异是如何发生的。我们现在处于一个独特的位置来研究不同的机制，并确定哪些基因受到不同的抑制系统的调节。这将对我们理解基因表达和人类基因组复杂性的方式产生重大影响。

Recently, a completely new way of controlling gene expression has been identified. This has come to light after the discovery of a whole new class of genes comprising very small RNA molecules, that unlike most genes do not produce proteins. There are at least 800 of these small RNA molecules within the human genome which have different effects. They work by binding to the mRNA of other genes and inhibiting the target genes from being made into proteins. Each of these 800 small molecules is believed to interact with 100 other genes, thus adding to the complexity of the regulation of the human genome. Already it has become clear that malfunction of miRNA regulation is associated with a growing list of human disease, including: cancer; diabetes; and viral infections. In 2002 Science magazine called miRNA the breakthrough of the year and these small RNA molecular have been termed the 'Dark Matter of the cell'. At present there is great controversy within the scientific community over how these small RNA molecules repress gene expression. Laboratories around the world have shown conflicting data for how this repression mechanism functions, and have failed to reproduce each other's data. We have, for the first time, been able to shown both repression mechanisms operating and determined how these difference are occurring. We are now in a unique position to investigate the different mechanisms and to determine which genes are regulated by the different repression systems. This will lead to a great impact on the way in which we understand gene expression and the complexity of the human genome.