van Rooij Eva, Liu Ning, Olson Eric N
Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.
Trends Genet. 2008 Apr;24(4):159-66. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2008.01.007. Epub 2008 Mar 5.
MicroRNAs negatively regulate gene expression by promoting mRNA degradation and inhibiting mRNA translation. Recent studies have uncovered a cadre of muscle-specific microRNAs that regulate diverse aspects of muscle function, including myoblast proliferation, differentiation, contractility and stress responsiveness. These myogenic microRNAs, which are encoded by bicistronic transcripts or are nestled within introns of myosin genes, modulate muscle functions by fine-tuning gene expression patterns or acting as 'on-off' switches. Muscle-specific microRNAs also participate in numerous diseases, including cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, congenital heart disease and muscular dystrophy. The myriad roles of microRNAs in muscle biology pose interesting prospects for their therapeutic manipulation in muscle disease.
微小RNA通过促进mRNA降解和抑制mRNA翻译来负向调节基因表达。最近的研究发现了一组肌肉特异性微小RNA，它们调节肌肉功能的多个方面，包括成肌细胞增殖、分化、收缩性和应激反应性。这些由双顺反子转录本编码或位于肌球蛋白基因内含子中的生肌微小RNA，通过微调基因表达模式或充当“开关”来调节肌肉功能。肌肉特异性微小RNA也参与多种疾病，包括心肌肥大、心力衰竭、心律失常、先天性心脏病和肌肉萎缩症。微小RNA在肌肉生物学中的众多作用为其在肌肉疾病中的治疗应用带来了有趣的前景。
