Miska Eric A
Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute and Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2005 Oct;15(5):563-8. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2005.08.005.
After the milestone discovery of the first microRNA in 1993, the past five years have seen a phenomenal surge of interest in these short, regulatory RNAs. Given that 2% of all known human genes encode microRNAs, one main goal is to uncover microRNA function. Although it has been more difficult to assign function to microRNAs in animals than it has been in plants, important roles are emerging: in invertebrates, microRNAs control developmental timing, neuronal differentiation, tissue growth and programmed cell death. Functional studies in zebrafish and mice point toward important roles for microRNAs during morphogenesis and organogenesis. Finally, microRNAs might regulate viral infection and human cancer.
1993年首个微小RNA被发现这一具有里程碑意义的事件之后，在过去五年里，人们对这些短小的调控RNA的兴趣急剧激增。鉴于已知的人类基因中有2%编码微小RNA，一个主要目标就是揭示微小RNA的功能。虽然在动物中确定微小RNA的功能比在植物中更困难，但一些重要作用正在显现：在无脊椎动物中，微小RNA控制发育时间、神经元分化、组织生长和程序性细胞死亡。对斑马鱼和小鼠的功能研究表明，微小RNA在形态发生和器官发生过程中发挥重要作用。最后，微小RNA可能调控病毒感染和人类癌症。
