摘要
小RNA(smallRNAs或sRNAs)是一类长度在40至400个核苷酸、广泛存在于从细菌到哺乳动物多种不同的生物体内、执行多种生物学功能的非编码的RNA分子。对于sRNA分子的研究过去主要集中在哺乳动物。近年来,随着生物信息学和分子生物学技术的不断发展,在原核生物体内也陆续发现了一些sRNA分子,这些sRNA分子具有多样的生物学功能。大肠杆菌作为原核生物的代表在其体内已发现了近70种的sRNA分子。同真核细胞中的sRNA一样,细菌中的sRNA绝大多数也是通过与靶mRNA配对来影响mRNA的稳定性或翻译,从而对基因的表达进行调节。Hfq蛋白作为RNA的分子伴侣对于这些RNA分子的正确折叠和行使功能具有重要的作用。
Small RNAs （sRNAs） are noncoding RNAs of about 40-400 nucleotides that carry out a variety of biological functions, sRNAs are found in many different organisms, ranging from bacteria to mammals. They can regulate the expression of the target genes. The researches on small RNAs used to focus mainly on mammals in the past, but with the development of bioinformatics and molecular biology, some small RNAs have been found in prokaryotes. These small RNAs have diverse functions. Recent studies showed that there are about 70 small regulatory RNAs in E. coli. Most of these small RNAs could specifically bind their target mRNAs by base-pairing. The sRNAs could regulate their targets gene expression by changing the stability of their target mRNAs or affecting the process of translation. Hfq, a RNA chaperon in E. coil, plays an important role in the normal functioning of sRNAs.
出处
《医学分子生物学杂志》
CAS
CSCD
2006年第6期464-467,共4页
Journal of Medical Molecular Biology
