Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by binding mRNA targets via sequence complementary inducing translational repression and/or mRNA degradation. A current challenge in the field of miRNA biology is to understand the functionality of miRNAs under physiopathological conditions. Recent evidence indicates that miRNA expression is more complex than simple regulation at the transcriptional level. MiRNAs undergo complex post-transcriptional regulations such miRNA processing, editing, accumulation and re-cycling within P-bodies. They are dynamically regulated and have a well-orchestrated spatiotemporal localization pattern. Real-time and spatio-temporal analyses of miRNA expression are difficult to evaluate and often underestimated. Therefore, important information connecting miRNA expression and function can be lost. Conventional miRNA profiling methods such as Northern blot, real-time PCR, microarray, in situ hybridization and deep sequencing continue to contribute to our knowledge of miRNA biology. However, these methods can seldom shed light on the spatiotemporal organization and function of miRNAs in real-time. Non-invasive molecular imaging methods have the potential to address these issues and are thus attracting increasing attention. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of methods used to detect miRNAs and discusses their contribution in the emerging field of miRNA biology and therapy.
Highlights
The central dogma of molecular biology that a gene is transcribed into messenger RNAs which are in turn translated into proteins was refined by remarkable works in the early 1990s
Sequence analysis revealed that the 3'-untranslated region of LIN-14 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) has a sequence complementary to lin-4, suggesting that these two molecules could interact through a base pair mechanism
Molecular imaging of miRNA is attracting increasing attention in the field of miRNA biology as it provides the unique opportunity to study the dynamic regulation of miRNA in a physio(patho)logical condition using animal models
Summary
The central dogma of molecular biology that a gene is transcribed into messenger RNAs (mRNAs) which are in turn translated into proteins was refined by remarkable works in the early 1990s. Some examples include the deregulation of exportin-5 [33], DGCR8 [34] and Ago-2 [35] expression and loss of DICER activity in cancer cells [36] Overall, these findings indicate that miRNA biology is complex, highly dynamic and subject to tight transcriptional and post-transcriptional control. 60% of the miRNA population was able to repress expression of target mRNA, suggesting that the functional “miRNome” in the cell is smaller than originally thought In this context, non-invasive molecular imaging methods have the potential to overcome some of these hurdles and to provide alternative ways to study miRNA expression in physiological and pathophysiological animal models. According to the design of the imaging system, an increase or reduction in light emission in cells is generated and can be detected using conventional optical imaging methods
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