Department of Biochemistry and Goodman Cancer Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1Y6, Canada.
Annu Rev Biochem. 2010;79:351-79. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-060308-103103.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that extensively regulate gene expression in animals, plants, and protozoa. miRNAs function posttranscriptionally by usually base-pairing to the mRNA 3'-untranslated regions to repress protein synthesis by mechanisms that are not fully understood. In this review, we describe principles of miRNA-mRNA interactions and proteins that interact with miRNAs and function in miRNA-mediated repression. We discuss the multiple, often contradictory, mechanisms that miRNAs have been reported to use, which cause translational repression and mRNA decay. We also address the issue of cellular localization of miRNA-mediated events and a role for RNA-binding proteins in activation or relief of miRNA repression.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) 是一类广泛调节动物、植物和原生动物基因表达的小非编码 RNA。miRNAs 通过通常与 mRNA 3'-非翻译区结合，在转录后水平抑制蛋白质合成，其机制尚不完全清楚。在这篇综述中，我们描述了 miRNA-mRNA 相互作用的原理，以及与 miRNA 相互作用并在 miRNA 介导的抑制中发挥作用的蛋白质。我们讨论了 miRNA 报道的多种、往往相互矛盾的机制，这些机制导致翻译抑制和 mRNA 降解。我们还讨论了 miRNA 介导事件的细胞定位问题以及 RNA 结合蛋白在 miRNA 抑制的激活或缓解中的作用。
