在C. elegans中,饥饿诱导的小RNA的跨代遗传
Oded Rechavi1, Leah Houri-Ze'evi2, Sarit Anava2
1Department of Neurobiology, Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel; Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Cell
|July 15, 2014
概括
饥饿会引发后代的遗传表观遗传变化,影响他们的健康和几代人的寿命. 这项研究揭示了小RNA如何调解这种营养压力的跨代记忆.
科学领域:
- 表观遗传学和发育生物学
- 遗传的分子机制的分子机制.
- 环境对健康的影响.
背景情况:
- 有证据表明,饥荒会影响后代的健康,但机制和代际范围尚不清楚.
- 小RNAs在C. elegans中调解跨代基因沉默,通常是针对外来DNA.
- 代际内源性表观遗传信息的继承仍然不太了解.
研究的目的:
- 调查饥饿是否会导致后代遗传的表观遗传变化.
- 确定分子机制,特别是小RNA,参与饥饿效应的跨代遗传.
- 确定饥饿诱导的表观遗传记忆对后代健康和寿命的影响.
主要方法:
- 在C. elegans中诱导饥饿介导的发育停滞.
- 在多代 (F1,F2,F3) 的饥饿和控制C. elegans中分析小RNA概况.
- 识别跨代传播的小RNA和对多代效应至关重要的基因的目标基因.
- 评估饥饿动物的F3后代的寿命.
主要成果:
- 饥饿引起的发育停滞会产生内源性小RNA,至少三代人继承.
- 这些跨代传播的小RNAs向参与营养的基因.
- 确定了对于这种多代效应至关重要的特定基因.
- 饥饿动物的F3后代的寿命增加,这表明他们具有跨代记忆力.
结论:
- 饥饿可以通过遗传的小RNA来诱导跨代表观遗传记忆,以营养基因为目标.
- 这种表观遗传影响后代的表型,包括增加寿命.
- 这些发现阐明了C. elegans中环境信息跨代遗传的新机制.
相关概念视频
01:23RNA Interference
RNA interference (RNAi) is a process in which a small non-coding RNA molecule blocks the post-transcriptional expression of a gene by binding to its messenger RNA (mRNA) and preventing the protein from being translated.
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
02:30siRNA - Small Interfering RNAs
Small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, are short regulatory RNA molecules that can silence genes post-transcriptionally, as well as the transcriptional level in some cases. siRNAs are important for protecting cells against viral infections and silencing transposable genetic elements.
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the ATP-dependent...
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the ATP-dependent...
02:57piRNA - Piwi-interacting RNAs
PIWI-interacting RNAs, or piRNAs, are the most abundant short non-coding RNAs. More than 20,000 genes have been found in humans that code for piRNAs while only 2000 genes have been found for miRNAs. piRNAs can act at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels and have a vital role in silencing transposable elements present in germ cells. They are also involved in epigenetic silencing and activation. Previously, they were thought to function only in germ cells but new evidence suggests...
02:15Experimental RNAi
RNA interference (RNAi) is a cellular mechanism that inhibits gene expression by suppressing its transcription or activating the RNA degradation process. The mechanism was discovered by Andrew Fire and Craig Mello in 1998 in plants. Today, it is observed in almost all eukaryotes, including protozoa, flies, nematodes, insects, parasites, and mammals. This precise cellular mechanism of gene silencing has been developed into a technique that provides an efficient way to identify and determine the...