摘 要：小分子調(diào)控RNA，包括siRNA (small interfering RNA)、miRNA (micrornA)和piRNA (piwi interacting RNA)、hsRNA (heterochromatin associated small RNA)等，是當前生命科學研究的前沿熱點。越來越多的證據(jù)表明，這些小分子RNA 存在于幾乎所有較高等的真核生物細胞中，對生物體具有非常重要的調(diào)控功能。它們通過各種序列特異性的RNA 基因沉默作用，包括RNA 干擾 (RNAi)、翻譯抑制、異染色質(zhì)形成等，調(diào)控諸如生長發(fā)育、應(yīng)激反應(yīng)、沉默轉(zhuǎn)座子等各種各樣的細胞進程。隨著對這些小分子調(diào)控RNA 的發(fā)現(xiàn)，一些RNase III 酶家族成員、Argonaute 蛋白質(zhì)家族成員及RNA 結(jié)合蛋白質(zhì)等先后被鑒定為小RNA 的胞內(nèi)蛋白質(zhì)合作者，參與小RNA 的加工成熟和在細胞內(nèi)行使功能。本綜述簡介一些RNA 沉默作用途徑中重要組分的結(jié)構(gòu)和功能的研究進展。
關(guān)鍵詞：小分子調(diào)控RNA；RNA 基因沉默；Drosha；Dicer；Argonaute；Piwi；小rna 結(jié)合蛋白
中圖分類號：Q522;Q51 文獻標識碼：A

生命科學 Chinese Bulletin of Life sciences 第20 卷 第2 期 2008 年4 月

Small RNAs and proteins in RNA silencing pathways
LIU Mo-fang*, WANG En-duo
(State Key Laboratory of molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China)
Abstract: Small regulatory RNAs, including siRNA (short interfering RNA), miRNA (microRNA), piRNA (piwi interacting RNA), and hsRNA (heterochromatin associated small RNA), have been the hot frontier of life sciences in the past few years, and it is becoming more and more apparent that these small molecules have key regulatory functions. Small RNAs trigger various forms of sequence specific gene silencing, commonly referred to as RNA silencing, such as RNA interference (RNAi), translational repression, and heterochromatin formation in all higher eukaryotes and play important roles in cellular processes as diverse as development, stress response, or transposon silencing. Soon after the discovery of small regulatory RNAs, members of the RNase III family and Argonaute protein family, some RNA binding proteins, and etc., were identified as their major cellular protein interactors and involved in the biogenesis and various cellular functions of small RNAs. This review summaries the understanding of the structures and functions of the important components in small RNA-induced gene-silencing pathways.
Key words: small regulatory RNA; RNA gene silencing; Drosha; Dicer; Argonaute; Piwi; small RNA binding protein

在真核生物中，小分子非編碼RNA 引發(fā)一系列序列特異性的基因表達負調(diào)控作用，包括RNA干擾(RNAi)、翻譯抑制和異染色質(zhì)形成等，這一現(xiàn)象被稱為RNA 基因沉默作用