Zebrafish(斑马鱼)中小RNA（microRNAs）与胚胎发育的关系

  最近在Science上发表了一个关于microRNA的研究。microRNA占到了脊椎动物基因的1%到3%。但是它们的功能大多数还是未知的。

  在Zebrafish中miR-430就是一个microRNA，它在发育早期表达，对胚胎的形态发育起到调节作用。这个研究利用芯片技术检测到，miR-430能调节几百个目标信使RNA（mRNA）的表达，使它们降解掉。这些mRNA多数为母性的mRNA。可见miR-430在从母性到杂合体的转换（maternal-to-zygotic transition）中起到了重要的作用。

  MicroRNAs (miRNAs) comprise 1 to 3% of all vertebrate genes, but their in vivo functions and mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. Zebrafish miR-430 is expressed at the onset of zygotic transcription and regulates morphogenesis during early development. By using a microarray approach and in vivo target validation, we find that miR-430 directly regulates several hundred target messenger RNA molecules (mRNAs). Most targets are maternally expressed mRNAs that accumulate in the absence of miR-430. We also show that miR-430 accelerates the deadenylation of target mRNAs. These results suggest that miR-430 facilitates the deadenylation and clearance of maternal mRNAs during early embryogenesis.

参考文献：
Antonio J. Giraldez,1,2* Yuichiro Mishima,3 Jason Rihel,1,2 Russell J. Grocock,4 Stijn Van Dongen,4 Kunio Inoue,3 Anton J. Enright,4 Alexander F. Schier1
Zebrafish MiR-430 Promotes Deadenylation and Clearance of Maternal mRNAs.
Originally published in Science Express on 16 February 2006
DOI: 10.1126/science.1122689
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/312/5770/75