调控褐色脂肪细胞分化的microRNAs

MicroRNAs in the regulation of brown adipocyte differentiation

MicroRNA(miRNA)是近年来在真核生物中发现的一类长约22nt的内源性非编码RNA,在动物中主要通过抑制靶m RNA翻译,在转录后水平调控基因表达。动物体内有两种类型的脂肪组织:褐色和白色脂肪,白色脂肪以甘油三脂形式贮存能量,而褐色脂肪利用甘油三酯产生能量。褐色脂肪因其对肥胖的拮抗作用而对研究肥胖等代谢疾病具有重要意义,大量研究表明mi RNA在褐色脂肪细胞分化中扮演着重要角色,其自身也受到多种转录因子和环境因子调控,这个复杂的调控网络维持了体内脂肪组织稳态。文章主要综述了mi RNA在褐色脂肪细胞分化中的最新研究进展,以期为利用mi RNA进行肥胖、糖尿病等相关疾病及其并发症的治疗提供新思路。

MicroRNAs （miRNAs）, a class of endogenous non-coding RNA about 22 nucleotide long, regulate gene expression at the post-transcription level by inhibiting the translation or inducing the degradation of their target mRNAs in organisms. There are two types of adipose tissues：brown and white. White adipose tissues store energy in the form of tri-glycerides （TGs）, while brown adipose tissues catabolize TGs to generate energy. Brown adipose tissues are of great im-portance to the research of obesity and related metabolic diseases due to their function of preventing people from obesity. A lot of studies have revealed that miRNAs play crucial roles in regulating brown adipocyte differentiation and are modulat-ed by lots of transcription factors and environmental factors, which form a complex regulatory network maintaining the homeostasis of adipose tissues. In this review, we summarize the latest studies of miRNAs in brown adipocyte differentia-tion, which might provide new strategies for the treatment of obesity and other related diseases.