University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Aškerčeva 7, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Biotechnol Adv. 2012 May-Jun;30(3):753-65. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2012.01.006. Epub 2012 Jan 21.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) form a large class of non-coding RNAs that function in repression of gene expression in eukaryotes. By recognizing short stretches of nucleotides within the untranslated regions of mRNAs, miRNAs recruit partner proteins to individual transcripts, leading to mRNA cleavage or hindering of translation. Bioinformatic predictions and a wealth of data from wet laboratory studies indicate that miRNAs control expression of a large proportion of protein-coding genes, implying involvement of miRNAs in regulation of most biologic processes. In this review we discuss the biology of miRNAs and present examples of how manipulation of miRNA expression or activity can be exploited to attain the desired phenotypic traits in cell engineering as well as achieve therapeutic outcomes in treatment of a diverse set of diseases.
微小 RNA（miRNA）是一大类非编码 RNA，在真核生物中发挥基因表达抑制作用。通过识别 mRNA 非翻译区的短核苷酸序列，miRNA 招募伴侣蛋白到单个转录本上，导致 mRNA 切割或翻译受阻。生物信息学预测和大量湿实验研究数据表明，miRNA 控制着大部分蛋白质编码基因的表达，这意味着 miRNA 参与了大多数生物过程的调控。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了 miRNA 的生物学特性，并举例说明了如何操纵 miRNA 的表达或活性，以在细胞工程中获得所需的表型特征，并在治疗多种疾病中获得治疗效果。
