Vidigal Joana A, Ventura Andrea
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Trends Cell Biol. 2015 Mar;25(3):137-47. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2014.11.004. Epub 2014 Dec 4.
Despite their clear importance as a class of regulatory molecules, pinpointing the relevance of individual miRNAs has been challenging. Studies querying miRNA functions by overexpressing or silencing specific miRNAs have yielded data that are often at odds with those collected from loss-of-functions models. In addition, knockout studies suggest that many conserved miRNAs are dispensable for animal development or viability. In this review, we discuss these observations in the context of our current knowledge of miRNA biology and review the evidence implicating miRNA-mediated gene regulation in the mechanisms that ensure biological robustness.
尽管作为一类调控分子,它们的重要性显而易见,但确定单个微小RNA(miRNA)的相关性一直具有挑战性。通过过表达或沉默特定miRNA来探究其功能的研究得出的数据,往往与从功能丧失模型中收集的数据不一致。此外,基因敲除研究表明,许多保守的miRNA对于动物发育或生存并非必需。在本综述中,我们结合目前对miRNA生物学的认识来讨论这些观察结果,并回顾表明miRNA介导的基因调控参与确保生物学稳健性机制的证据。