Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2010 Sep;21(7):760-7. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2010.02.003. Epub 2010 Feb 10.
microRNAs (miRNAs) encode small RNA molecules of approximately 22nts in length that regulate the deadenylation, translation, and decay of their target mRNAs. The identification of miRNAs in plants and animals has uncovered a new layer of gene regulation with important implications for development, cellular homeostasis and disease. Because each miRNA is predicted to regulate several hundred genes, a major challenge in the field remains to elucidate the precise roles for each miRNA and to understand the physiological relevance of individual miRNA-target interactions in vivo. Despite the wide variety of biological contexts where miRNAs function, a common theme emerges, whereby miRNAs shape gene expression within both spatial and temporal dimensions by removing messages from previous cellular states as well as modulating the levels of actively transcribed genes. This review will focus on the role that the teleost Danio rerio (zebrafish) has played in shaping our understanding of miRNA function in vertebrates.
微小 RNA（miRNA）编码大约 22 个核苷酸长度的小 RNA 分子，它们调节靶 mRNA 的脱腺苷酸化、翻译和降解。在植物和动物中鉴定 miRNA 揭示了一个新的基因调控层，对发育、细胞内稳态和疾病具有重要意义。由于每个 miRNA 被预测可以调节几百个基因，因此该领域的一个主要挑战仍然是阐明每个 miRNA 的精确作用，并理解体内单个 miRNA-靶相互作用的生理相关性。尽管 miRNA 在广泛的生物背景下发挥作用，但一个共同的主题出现了，即 miRNA 通过从先前的细胞状态中去除信息以及调节主动转录基因的水平，在空间和时间维度上塑造基因表达。本综述将重点介绍硬骨鱼 Danio rerio（斑马鱼）在我们理解脊椎动物 miRNA 功能方面所起的作用。
