SBI has developed innovative technologies and tools for qPCR Expression profiling, Cloning, Overexpression and Knockdown of microRNAs to enhance your research discoveries.
MicroRNAs are a class of naturally-occurring, small non-coding RNAs that control gene expression by translational repression or mRNA degradation; they are widely expressed throughout the plant and animal kingdoms and may comprise 1-5% of animal genes. Since the discovery of lin-4 and let-7 in Caenorhabditis elegans, over six thousand microRNAs have been identified through genomic and bioinformatic approaches. Like protein-coding genes, microRNAs are transcribed in the nucleus as long primary transcripts (pri-microRNAs). However, distinct from protein-coding genes, they are subsequently cleaved by the nuclear RNase III enzyme Drosha to produce structured, stem-loop precursor molecules (pre-microRNAs) of 70-100 nucleotides (nt) in length. The pre-microRNAs are then exported to the cytoplasm in a process involving exportin-5, where the RNase III enzyme Dicer further processes them into mature microRNAs (~22 nt). One strand of the microRNA duplex is subsequently incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) that regulates target gene expression. Although the mechanisms of microRNA-mediated gene silencing are not yet fully understood, evidence indicates that targeted mRNAs may be translationally repressed or de-adenylated and turned over, a process termed target mRNA decay.
