microRNA的功能及家蚕microRNA的研究进展

Functions of MicroRNAs and Research Progress of MicroRNAs in the Silkworm,Bombyx mori

microRNA(miRNA)是一类长度约22个碱基的内源性非编码小分子RNA,具有广泛的调节基因表达的功能,与生命体的发生、生长、发育和分化过程密切相关。miRNA除了对靶基因mRNA的翻译抑制、降解等起到负调控作用,还有去抑制和miRNA激活作用等正调控作用,以及竞争性内源RNA(ceRNA)调控机制。在家蚕中已经鉴定了许多新的miRNA,通过深度测序技术和利用基因芯片数据等分析了蚕体各个发育时期及不同组织中miRNA的表达特征,关于家蚕miRNA的功能及靶基因研究也成为热点。本文对miRNA的形成、生物学功能、靶基因预测等进行概述,并特别介绍家蚕miRNA的研究进展。

MicroRNAs（ miRNAs） are a class of - 22 nt endogenous non-protein coding small RNAs that regulate expression of target genes at post-transcriptional levels,which play multiple roles in the occurrence,growth,development,and differentiation of organisms. Apart from its negative regulatory functions on translational repression and degradation of target mRNAs,miRNAs also exert positive regulations including removal of repression and activation of miRNAs as well as regulation of competing endogenous RNAs（ ceRNAs）. In the silkworm,Bombyx mori,many novel miRNAs have been identified in recent years. The expression patterns of miRNAs in each developmental stage and in different tissues of silkworm were extensively investigated through deep sequencing and microarray technology. The research on functions of silkworm miRNAs and their target genes has become a hotspot. In this article,we reviewed the formation of miRNAs,the biological functions of miRNAs,and prediction of their target genes etc. with special emphasis on the research advance of miRNAs in silkworm.