Montagner Sara, Dehó Lorenzo, Monticelli Silvia
Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Via Vincenzo Vela 6, Bellinzona CH-6500, Switzerland.
BMC Immunol. 2014 Mar 31;15:14. doi: 10.1186/1471-2172-15-14.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs involved in the posttranscriptional regulation of a wide range of biological processes. By binding to complementary sequences on target messenger RNAs, they trigger translational repression and degradation of the target, eventually resulting in reduced protein output. MiRNA-dependent regulation of protein translation is a very widespread and evolutionarily conserved mechanism of posttranscriptional control of gene expression. Accordingly, a high proportion of mammalian genes are likely to be regulated by miRNAs. In the hematopoietic system, both transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression ensure proper differentiation and function of stem cells, committed progenitors as well as mature cells.
In recent years, miRNA expression profiling of various cell types in the hematopoietic system, as well as gene-targeting approaches to assess the function of individual miRNAs, revealed the importance of this type of regulation in the development of both innate and acquired immunity.
We discuss the general role of miRNA biogenesis in the development of hematopoietic cells, as well as specific functions of individual miRNAs in stem cells as well as in mature immune cells.
微小RNA（miRNA）是一类短链非编码RNA，参与多种生物过程的转录后调控。通过与靶信使RNA上的互补序列结合，它们引发靶标的翻译抑制和降解，最终导致蛋白质产量降低。依赖miRNA的蛋白质翻译调控是一种非常广泛且在进化上保守的基因表达转录后控制机制。因此，很大比例的哺乳动物基因可能受miRNA调控。在造血系统中，基因表达的转录调控和转录后调控均确保干细胞、定向祖细胞以及成熟细胞的正常分化和功能。
近年来，造血系统中各种细胞类型的miRNA表达谱分析以及评估单个miRNA功能的基因靶向方法，揭示了这种调控类型在先天性免疫和获得性免疫发育中的重要性。
我们讨论了miRNA生物合成在造血细胞发育中的一般作用，以及单个miRNA在干细胞和成熟免疫细胞中的特定功能。
