链球菌非编码小RNA研究进展

Research advance in small non-coding RNAs of Streptococcus

非编码小RNA(Small non-coding RNA,sRNA)是一种存在于原核和真核生物中的新型调控RNA,长度约为40~500个核苷酸。作为一类关键的调控因子,sRNA通过与靶mRNA或蛋白质结合来调控细胞内的基因表达。大部分细菌sRNA在大肠杆菌等革兰氏阴性菌中被发现并研究,但近十年来越来越多的sRNA在革兰氏阳性菌中被逐步发现。作为一类革兰氏阳性菌,链球菌属中sRNA目前研究主要集中在毒力调节,鲜有其他调控的报道。本文总结了链球菌中sRNA的最新进展,并介绍其主要功能和机理,以期为细菌sRNA研究提供借鉴。

Small non-coding RNAs(sRNAs)are a new type of regulatory RNAs found in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms with about 40~500 nucleotides in length.As a key regulatory factor,sRNAs regulate gene expression in cells by binding to target mRNAs or proteins.Most bacterial sRNAs were found and studied in Gram-negative bacteria such as E.coli,but more and more sRNAs were gradually found in Gram-positive bacteria in the past decade.As a class of Gram-positive bacteria,sRNAs in Streptococcus were currently focused on the regulation of virulence,and there were few reports reported.In this article,the latest researches of sRNAs in Streptococcus were summarized and their main functions and mechanisms were introduced in order to provide reference for bacterial sRNA research.