天然反义转录物及其调控基因的表达机制  

Natural antisense transcript and its mechanism of gene regulation

作　　者：谢兆辉[1] 

机构地区：[1]德州学院生物系,德州253023

出　　处：《遗传》2010年第2期122-128,共7页Hereditas（Beijing)

基　　金：山东省自然科学基金项目(编号:Y2008D36)资助

摘　　要：天然反义转录(NATs)是一组编码蛋白质或非编码蛋白质的RNAs,与其他(有义)转录物具有互补序列,可以调节有义链的表达。这种调节可以发生在转录水平或转录后水平,调节方式有转录干扰、RNA封闭、双链依赖机制或染色质重建(修饰)等。正义链和反义链分别加工成小RNAs调节基因表达,也是NATs调节基因表达的重要方式,如piRNAs的"乒乓机制"。实验或计算机研究已经证明了NATs在生物中广泛存在,是一种重要的基因表达调节方式。文章论述了NATs的重要作用和机理,重点论述了NATs的调节机制和相关的小RNAs。Natural antisense transcripts （NATs） are coding or non-coding RNAs with sequence complementarity to other transcripts （sense transcripts）. These RNAs could potentially regulate the expression of their sense partner（s） at either the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level through a variety of biological mechanisms, such as transcription interference, RNA masking, dsRNA-dependent mechanisms, and chromatin remodelling （modification）. We speculated that both of sense and antisense transcripts may be sliced to form small RNAs, which is also an important mechanism for NATs to regulate gene expression, such as rasiRNAs in ＂ping-pong＂. Experimental and computational analyses have demonstrated the widespread occurrence of NATs in a wide range of species. Here, we reviewed the current understanding of NATs function and its mechanistic basis. We hypothesized that the regulation of antisense transcription and small RNAs were derived from NATs.

关 键 词：天然反义转录物 转录干扰 RNA封闭 双链依赖机制 染色质重建(修饰) 

分 类 号：Q75[生物学—分子生物学]