Regulation of the micF Gene and Mechanism of Action of the Transcript as a Repressor

在过去的几年里，大量的小RNA被发现并被鉴定。其中几个已经被发现是调节分子。一种被称为MICF RNA的小RNA被假设在翻译水平上负调控外膜蛋白F(OmpF)在大肠杆菌中的表达。MICF RNA作为抑制分子的作用机制将被阐明。它的合成和衰变的动力学将被确定。我们将研究在多拷贝质粒上存在MICF的细胞、参考菌株和MICF缺失菌株中OmpF m RNA的活体水平。将尝试在体外形成MICF RNA-OmpF m RNA杂交体，并对其性质进行表征。与特定的信使核糖核酸序列互补的小的核糖核酸分子是否能抑制这些信使核糖核酸的翻译是目前非常感兴趣的问题。具体地说，是否存在参与调节OMPC合成的MICC RNA？MICF RNA可能被证明是在真细菌中发挥作用的其他调控RNA基因的原型，如果是这样的话，确实是令人兴奋的。

Within the past few years a large number of small RNAs have been discovered and characterized. Several of these have been found to be regulatory molecules. One small RNA termed micF RNA has been hypothesized to negatively regulate the expressions of outer membrane protein F (ompF) at the level of translation in E coli. The mechanism faction of micF RNA as a repressor molecular will be elucidated. The kinetics of its systhesis and decay will be determined. The in vivo levels of ompF m RNA in cells having micF on a multicopy plasmid, in reference strains and in micF deletion strain will be investigated. Attempts will be made to form a micF RNA - ompF m RNA hybrid in vitro and its properties will be characterized. The question of whether small RNA molecules complementary fo certain mRNA sequences can repress translation of those mRNAs is of much current interest. Specifically is there a micC RNA that participates in the regulation of ompC synthesis? MicF RNA may prove to be a prototype of other regulatory RNA genes that function in eubacteria and it would indeed be exciting if this were the case.