Department of Developmental Biology, Sloan-Kettering Institute, 1275 York Ave, Box 252, New York NY 10065.
Curr Top Dev Biol. 2012;99:201-235. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-387038-4.00008-2.
Although a great deal is known about the identity, biogenesis, and targeting capacity of microRNAs (miRNAs) in animal cells, far less is known about their functional requirements at the organismal level. Much remains to be understood about the necessity of miRNAs for overt phenotypes, the identity of critical miRNA targets, and the control of miRNA transcription. In this review, we provide an overview of genetic strategies to study miRNAs in the Drosophila system, including loss- and gain-of-function techniques, genetic interaction strategies, and transgenic reporters of miRNA expression and activity. As we illustrate the usage of these techniques in intact Drosophila, we see certain recurrent themes for miRNA functions, including energy homeostasis, apoptosis suppression, growth control, and regulation of core cell signaling pathways. Overall, we hope that this exposition of Drosophila genetic techniques, well known to the legions of fly geneticists and used to study all genes, can inform the general miRNA community that focuses on other biochemical, molecular, computational, and structural avenues. Clearly, it is the combination of these myriad techniques that has accelerated miRNA research to its extraordinary pace.
尽管人们对动物细胞中 microRNAs (miRNAs) 的身份、生物发生和靶向能力了解甚多，但在生物体水平上对其功能要求知之甚少。miRNAs 对于明显表型的必要性、关键 miRNA 靶标的身份以及 miRNA 转录的控制，仍有许多需要了解。在这篇综述中，我们提供了在果蝇系统中研究 miRNAs 的遗传策略概述，包括功能丧失和功能获得技术、遗传相互作用策略以及 miRNA 表达和活性的转基因报告器。当我们在完整的果蝇中说明这些技术的使用时，我们看到 miRNA 功能的某些反复出现的主题，包括能量平衡、细胞凋亡抑制、生长控制和核心细胞信号通路的调节。总的来说，我们希望这篇介绍 Drosophila 遗传技术的文章，这些技术为众多果蝇遗传学家所熟知，并用于研究所有基因，可以为专注于其他生化、分子、计算和结构途径的 miRNA 研究人员提供信息。显然，正是这些众多技术的结合，加速了 miRNA 研究的发展。
