Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Cell Adh Migr. 2009 Oct-Dec;3(4):425-32. doi: 10.4161/cam.3.4.9913. Epub 2009 Oct 25.
Metazoan growth and development is maintained by populations of undifferentiated cells, commonly known as stem cells. Stem cells possess several characteristic properties, including dividing through self-renewing divisions and generating progeny that differentiate to have specialized cell fates. Multiple signaling pathways have been identified which coordinate stem cell proliferation with maintenance and differentiation. Relatively recently, the small, non-protein coding microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified to function as important regulators in stem cell development. Individual miRNAs are capable of directing the translational repression of many mRNAs targets, generating widespread changes in gene expression. In addition, dysfunction of miRNA expression is commonly associated with cancer development. Cancer stem cells, which are likely responsible for initiating and maintaining tumorigenesis, share many similarities with stem cells and some mechanisms of miRNA function may be in common between these two cell types.
后生动物的生长和发育由未分化细胞群体维持，这些细胞通常被称为干细胞。干细胞具有几个特征性属性，包括通过自我更新分裂进行分裂，并产生分化为具有特定细胞命运的后代。已经鉴定出多种信号通路，这些通路协调干细胞的增殖、维持和分化。最近，小分子非蛋白编码 microRNAs（miRNAs）被鉴定为在干细胞发育中起重要调节作用。单个 miRNAs 能够指导许多 mRNAs 靶标的翻译抑制，从而导致基因表达的广泛变化。此外，miRNA 表达功能障碍通常与癌症的发展有关。癌症干细胞可能负责启动和维持肿瘤发生，与干细胞有许多相似之处，并且这两种细胞类型之间的 miRNA 功能机制可能是共同的。
