Time-lapse imaging of microRNA activity reveals the kinetics of microRNA activation in single living cells.

ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that play critical roles in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Although the molecular mechanisms of the biogenesis and activation of miRNA have been extensively studied, the details of their kinetics within individual living cells remain largely unknown. We developed a novel method for time-lapse imaging of the rapid dynamics of miRNA activity in living cells using destabilized fluorescent proteins (dsFPs). Real-time monitoring of dsFP-based miRNA sensors revealed the duration necessary for miRNA biogenesis to occur, from primary miRNA transcription to mature miRNA activation, at single-cell resolution. Mathematical modeling, which included the decay kinetics of the fluorescence of the miRNA sensors, demonstrated that miRNA

SUBMITTER: Ando H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5626736 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature