Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
Trends Biochem Sci. 2010 Jul;35(7):368-76. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2010.03.009. Epub 2010 Apr 13.
It is well established that 20- to 30-nt small RNAs, including small interfering RNAs, microRNAs and Piwi-interacting RNAs, play crucial roles in regulating gene expression and control a surprisingly diverse array of biological processes. These small RNAs cannot work alone: they must form effector ribonucleoprotein complexes - RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISCs) - to exert their function. Thus, RISC assembly is a key process in small RNA-mediated silencing. Recent biochemical analyses of RISC assembly, together with new structural studies of Argonaute, the core protein component of RISC, suggest a revised view of how mature RISC, which contains single-stranded guide RNA, is built from small RNAs that are born double-stranded.
已经证实，20 到 30 个核苷酸的小 RNA，包括小干扰 RNA、microRNA 和 Piwi 相互作用 RNA，在调控基因表达和控制一系列惊人多样的生物学过程中起着至关重要的作用。这些小 RNA 不能单独发挥作用：它们必须形成效应核糖核蛋白复合物——RNA 诱导沉默复合物（RISCs）——才能发挥其功能。因此，RISCs 的组装是小 RNA 介导沉默的关键过程。最近对 RISCs 组装的生化分析，以及 Argonaute（RISCs 的核心蛋白成分）的新结构研究，提出了一个关于成熟的 RISCs（包含单链引导 RNA）如何由双链小 RNA 构建的新观点。
