美洲鲎miRNA的生物信息学挖掘与分析

利用miRBase数据库中已有动物的小RNA（miRNA）,通过生物信息学方法对美洲鲎(Limulus polyphemus)表达序列标签（Expressed Sequences Tag,EST）和cDNA进行序列比对,挖掘美洲鲎miRNA,得到了 72个miRNA前体(pre-miRNA)、49个可编码成熟miRNA,隶属于40个miRNA家族。miRNA家族归类结果表明,无论在低等脊椎动物还是高等动物中,miRNA家族的存在都是相当保守的。以miR-10基因前体为例,分析其序列与其他物种同源序列的差异,显示miRNA序列的高度保守性。miR-10前体序列分析系统进化发现,物种聚类与传统分类亲缘关系一致。     

Widespread changes in protein synthesis induced by microRNAs

Animal microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression by inhibiting translation and/or by inducing degradation of target messenger RNAs. It is unknown how much translational control is exerted by miRNAs on a genome-wide scale. We used a new proteomic approach to measure changes in synthesis of several thousand proteins in response to miRNA transfection or endogenous miRNA knockdown. In parallel, we quantified mRNA levels using microarrays. Here we show that a single miRNA can repress the production of hundreds of proteins, but that this repression is typically relatively mild. A number of known features of the miRNA-binding site such as the seed sequence also govern repression of human protein synthesis, and we report additional target sequence characteristics. We demonstrate that, in addition to downregulating mRNA levels, miRNAs also directly repress translation of hundreds of genes. Finally, our data suggest that a miRNA can, by direct or indirect effects, tune protein synthesis from thousands of genes.     

水稻microRNA及其靶基因的系统鉴定

miRNA在植物生长发育和环境胁迫中发挥着重要的作用.本研究基于49个水稻小RNA 测序数据,系统分析了已知miRNA的表达,并鉴定到了新的水稻miRNA.我们发现,miRBase上注释的水稻miRNA中,只有39％具有可检测的表达. 此外,对水稻降解组数据的分析鉴定到一些新的miRNA靶基因,包括两个新的miR444靶基因,它们分别编码WD40蛋白和热休克因子型DNA结合蛋白.     

A viral microRNA functions as an orthologue of cellular miR-155

All metazoan eukaryotes express microRNAs (miRNAs), roughly 22-nucleotide regulatory RNAs that can repress the expression of messenger RNAs bearing complementary sequences. Several DNA viruses also express miRNAs in infected cells, suggesting a role in viral replication and pathogenesis. Although specific viral miRNAs have been shown to autoregulate viral mRNAs or downregulate cellular mRNAs, the function of most viral miRNAs remains unknown. Here we report that the miR-K12-11 miRNA encoded by Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) shows significant homology to cellular miR-155, including the entire miRNA 'seed' region. Using a range of assays, we show that expression of physiological levels of miR-K12-11 or miR-155 results in the downregulation of an extensive set of common mRNA targets, including genes with known roles in cell growth regulation. Our findings indicate that viral miR-K12-11 functions as an orthologue of cellular miR-155 and probably evolved to exploit a pre-existing gene regulatory pathway in B cells. Moreover, the known aetiological role of miR-155 in B-cell transformation suggests that miR-K12-11 may contribute to the induction of KSHV-positive B-cell tumours in infected patients.     

大豆降解组文库microRNAs的启动子分析

研究目的：创新要点：通过分析miRNA的核心启动子和顺式作用元件为进一步解析大豆（Glycinemax）miRNAs表达调控及其功能研究提供重要信息。利用生物信息学方法全面解析了大豆降解组文库miRNA的启动子特征,并依据顺式作用元件及靶基因构建了miRNA的表达与生长素响应因子、赤霉素响应因子之问存在潜在的负反馈调控网络。研究方法：本研究利用TSSP程序和PlantCARE数据库预测了来自大豆降解组文库的440个miRNA的核心启动子以及369个miRNAs的顺式作用元件,并依据顺式作用元件及靶基因构建miRNA调控网络。重要结论：83．86％的miRNA在其上游序列中含有启动子,8．64％的miRNA在其下游序列中含有启动子,21．59％的miRNA包含增强子。核心启动子的TATA盒与转录起始位点（TSSs）的分布相似（见图2）。此外,对转录起始位点5’端的顺式作用元件预测为miRNAs的可能功能和表达的时空性提供了线索。miRNAs的顺式作用元件和靶基因的分析显示,部分miRNA的表达与生长素响应因子、赤霉素响应因子之间存在潜在的负反馈调控（见图3）。     

LNA-mediated microRNA silencing in non-human primates

microRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNAs that are important in development and disease and therefore represent a potential new class of targets for therapeutic intervention. Despite recent progress in silencing of miRNAs in rodents, the development of effective and safe approaches for sequence-specific antagonism of miRNAs in vivo remains a significant scientific and therapeutic challenge. Moreover, there are no reports of miRNA antagonism in primates. Here we show that the simple systemic delivery of a unconjugated, PBS-formulated locked-nucleic-acid-modified oligonucleotide (LNA-antimiR) effectively antagonizes the liver-expressed miR-122 in non-human primates. Acute administration by intravenous injections of 3 or 10 mg kg(-1) LNA-antimiR to African green monkeys resulted in uptake of the LNA-antimiR in the cytoplasm of primate hepatocytes and formation of stable heteroduplexes between the LNA-antimiR and miR-122. This was accompanied by depletion of mature miR-122 and dose-dependent lowering of plasma cholesterol. Efficient silencing of miR-122 was achieved in primates by three doses of 10 mg kg(-1) LNA-antimiR, leading to a long-lasting and reversible decrease in total plasma cholesterol without any evidence for LNA-associated toxicities or histopathological changes in the study animals. Our findings demonstrate the utility of systemically administered LNA-antimiRs in exploring miRNA function in rodents and primates, and support the potential of these compounds as a new class of therapeutics for disease-associated miRNAs.     

动物MicroRNAs的研究进展

MicroRNAs（miRNAs）是一类小的、内源的、非编码的RNA家族,其在转录后水平上对基因表达进行调控。nfiRNAs是在研究秀丽新小杆线虫（Caenorhabditis elegans）发育转变过程中发现的,最初称为stRNAs（small temporal RNA,小时序RNA）,但stRNAs只是miRNAs家族的一部分,随后在线虫、植物和哺乳动物中发现了miRNAs家族的数百个成员。动物miRNAs不仅在发育调控中起重要作用,还参与许多重要的生理过程。本文综述了动物中miRNAs的发现历程、生物学起源、作用机制、生物学功能、研究方法,并对动植物miRNAs的特点进行了比较。     

Regulation of microRNA on plant development and viral infection

THE FIRST MIRNA WAS IDENTIFIED IN C. ELEGANS AS EARLY AS IN 1993; THE IMPORTANCE OF MIRNAS, HOWEVER, IS RECOGNIZED ONLY RECENTLY AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF MIRNAS EXISTING UNIVERSALLY IN EUKARYOTIC ORGANISMS. THE SECOND MIRNA WAS IDENTIFIED IN 2000[1]. SINCE …     

应用生物信息学寻找大鼠中新的microRNA分子及其实验验证

大鼠已公布的microRNA(miRNA) 数量明显少于小鼠及人miRNA的数量.本文采用同源搜索的计算方法预测大鼠新的miRNA.从miRBase数据库中下载已知动物的pre- miRNAs, 在UCSC数据库中对大鼠的全基因组序列进行了Blat分析,并根据miRNAs的筛选标准,获得45条新的大鼠miRNAs;随后随机选取其中的9条新miRNAs进行RT- PCR实验验证,发现大部分miRNAs在脑、心、肺、肾、肌肉、脾、睾丸和肝8种组织中均有表达.在此基础上,对预测的新miRNAs进行了miRNA成簇分析和miRNA基因家族分析.     

MicroRNA expression profiles classify human cancers

Recent work has revealed the existence of a class of small non-coding RNA species, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), which have critical functions across various biological processes. Here we use a new, bead-based flow cytometric miRNA expression profiling method to present a systematic expression analysis of 217 mammalian miRNAs from 334 samples, including multiple human cancers. The miRNA profiles are surprisingly informative, reflecting the developmental lineage and differentiation state of the tumours. We observe a general downregulation of miRNAs in tumours compared with normal tissues. Furthermore, we were able to successfully classify poorly differentiated tumours using miRNA expression profiles, whereas messenger RNA profiles were highly inaccurate when applied to the same samples. These findings highlight the potential of miRNA profiling in cancer diagnosis.     

miRNAs在不同物种进化中序列保守性的研究

miRNAs在不同物种的进化中存在保守性,不仅单独在动物或是植物中存在保守性,而且在动植物之间也同样存在．本研究在人和动物的不同组织中克隆到了同源性很高的序列,将所得结果与已发表的成熟的miRNAs比对,发现克隆到的序列与植物中miRNA319家族的相似性较高,并且保守区靠近其5’端,推测新miRNAs可能与miRNA319扮演相似的角色,而这些序列的保守性跨越不同进化阶段的物种,也为miRNAs广泛的保守性增加新的证据,显示miRNAs在物种进化过程中发挥着重要的功能．     

Correlation of microRNAs responding to high dose γ-irradiation with predicted target mRNAs in HeLa cells using microarray analyses

An increasing data indicates that altered microRNAs （miRNAs） participate in the radiation-induced DNA damage response. However, a correlation of mRNA and miRNA profiles across the entire genome and in response to irradiation has not been thor- oughly assessed. We analyzed miRNA microarray data collected from HeLa cells after ionizing radiation （IR）, quantified the ex- pression profiles of mRNAs and performed comparative analysis of the data sets using target prediction algorithms, Gene Ontol- ogy （GO） analysis, pathway analysis, and gene network construction. The results showed that the altered miRNAs were involved in regulation of various cellular functions, miRNA-gene network analyses revealed that miR- 186, miR- 106b, miR- 15 a/b, CCND 1 and CDK6 played vital role in the cellular radiation response. Using qRT-PCR, we confirmed that twenty-two miRNAs showed differential expression in HeLa cells treated with IR and some of these miRNAs affected cell cycle progression. This study demonstrated that miRNAs influence gene expression in the entire genome during the cellular radiation response and suggested vital pathways for further research.