Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, Rogers State University, Claremore, Oklahoma, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2019 Jul 18;14(7):e0219707. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219707. eCollection 2019.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-protein coding RNAs and post-transcriptionally regulate cellular gene expression. In animal development, miRNAs play essential roles such as stem cell maintenance, organogenesis, and apoptosis. Using gain-of-function (GOF) screening with 160 miRNA lines in Drosophila melanogaster, we identified a set of miRNAs which regulates body fat contents and named them microCATs (microRNAs Controlling Adipose Tissue). Further examination of egg-to-adult developmental kinetics of selected miRNA lines showed a negative correlation between fat content and developmental time. Comparison of microCATs with loss-of-function miRNA screening data uncovered miR-969 as an essential regulator of adiposity. Subsequently, we demonstrated adipose tissue-specific knock-down of gustatory receptor 47b (Gr47b), a miR-969 target, greatly reduced the amount of body fat, recapitulating the miR-969 GOF phenotype.
微小 RNA（miRNA）是小的非蛋白编码 RNA，可以转录后调节细胞基因表达。在动物发育过程中，miRNA 发挥着重要作用，如干细胞维持、器官发生和细胞凋亡。我们使用果蝇中的 160 条 miRNA 系进行功能获得（GOF）筛选，鉴定出一组调节体脂肪含量的 miRNA，并将其命名为 microCATs（控制脂肪组织的 miRNA）。对选定 miRNA 系的卵至成虫发育动力学的进一步研究表明，脂肪含量与发育时间呈负相关。与 miRNA 功能丧失筛选数据的比较揭示了 miR-969 是肥胖的一个重要调节因子。随后，我们证明了味觉受体 47b（Gr47b）的脂肪组织特异性敲低，miR-969 的一个靶标，大大减少了体脂肪的含量，重现了 miR-969 的 GOF 表型。
