Hohjoh Hirohiko, Fukushima Tatsunobu
National Institute of Neuroscience, NCNP, 4-1-1 Ogawahigashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8502, Japan.
Gene. 2007 Apr 15;391(1-2):39-44. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2006.11.018. Epub 2006 Dec 8.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs, with a length of 19 to 23 nucleotides, which appear to be involved in the regulation of gene expression by inhibiting the translation of messenger RNA. Expression profile analysis of miRNAs is necessary to understand their complex role in the regulation of gene expression during the development and differentiation of cells and in various tissues. We describe here a detection system for miRNA expression profiles, using a new type of DNA chip and fluorescent labeled cellular RNAs, which allows real-time detection of hybridization signals at every step of washing and results in highly reproducible miRNA expression profiles. Using the system, we investigated the expression profiles of miRNA in the mouse central nervous system (CNS), namely the spinal cord, medulla oblongata, pons, cerebellum, midbrain, diencephalons, and cerebral hemispheres. The results indicated that although the CNS subregions expressed similar miRNA genes, the expression levels of the miRNAs varied among the subregions, suggesting that the CNS subregions specialized for different functions possess different expression profiles of miRNAs.
微小RNA（miRNA）是一类长度为19至23个核苷酸的小型非编码RNA，它们似乎通过抑制信使RNA的翻译来参与基因表达的调控。对miRNA进行表达谱分析，对于理解其在细胞发育、分化过程以及各种组织中基因表达调控的复杂作用至关重要。我们在此描述一种用于miRNA表达谱的检测系统，该系统使用新型DNA芯片和荧光标记的细胞RNA，能够在洗涤的每一步实时检测杂交信号，并产生高度可重复的miRNA表达谱。利用该系统，我们研究了miRNA在小鼠中枢神经系统（CNS）中的表达谱，即脊髓、延髓、脑桥、小脑、中脑、间脑和大脑半球。结果表明，尽管中枢神经系统各亚区域表达相似的miRNA基因，但miRNA的表达水平在各亚区域中有所不同，这表明专门执行不同功能的中枢神经系统亚区域具有不同的miRNA表达谱。
