Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China.
Expert Rev Proteomics. 2012 Oct;9(5):549-59. doi: 10.1586/epr.12.49.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs, approximately 22 nucleotides in length, found in diverse organisms. They have emerged in recent years as key regulators of a broad spectrum of cellular functions. miRNAs regulate biological processes by inducing translational inhibition and degradation of their target mRNAs through base pairing to partially or fully complementary sites. In the field of miRNA research, the identification of the targets of individual miRNAs is of utmost importance. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which individual miRNAs modulate cellular functions will remain incomplete until a full set of miRNA targets is identified and validated. Since a miRNA may regulate many of its targets at the translational level without affecting mRNA abundance, proteomic methods are best suited for revealing the full spectrum of miRNA targets. Quantitative proteomics is emerging as a powerful toolbox for identifying miRNA targets and for quantifying the contribution of translational repression by miRNAs. In this review, the authors summarize the quantitative proteomic approaches that have been employed for identification of miRNA targets and discuss current challenges as well as possible ways of overcoming them.
微小 RNA（miRNA）是长度约为 22 个核苷酸的小型非编码 RNA，存在于各种生物体中。近年来，它们已成为广泛细胞功能的关键调节因子。miRNA 通过与部分或完全互补的靶标 mRNA 结合，诱导翻译抑制和降解，从而调节生物过程。在 miRNA 研究领域，鉴定单个 miRNA 的靶标至关重要。在确定和验证完整的 miRNA 靶标之前，我们对单个 miRNA 调节细胞功能的分子机制的理解将是不完整的。由于 miRNA 可以在不影响 mRNA 丰度的情况下在翻译水平上调节许多靶标，因此蛋白质组学方法最适合揭示 miRNA 靶标的全谱。定量蛋白质组学正在成为鉴定 miRNA 靶标和量化 miRNA 抑制翻译贡献的强大工具包。在这篇综述中，作者总结了用于鉴定 miRNA 靶标的定量蛋白质组学方法，并讨论了当前的挑战以及可能的克服方法。
