Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of small noncoding RNA molecules that inhibit the expression of cognate genes in multicellular organisms. These small RNAs have been demonstrated to play crucial roles in a variety of biological processes including cell differentiation, proliferation, and survival. Knowledge of specific expression patterns of miRNAs is critical for functional studies. Here, we describe a bioluminescence reporter gene-based method to measure miRNA activity in cultured cells and mice using a Gaussia luciferase reporter gene controlled by miRNA binding sites in its 3′untranslated region. This method can be used to noninvasively monitor the expression patterns of functionally active miRNAs involved in different biological processes or diseases in mice.
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Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Korean government (MEST) (No. 2012-0006097) and a grant of the Korea Healthcare technology R&D Project, Ministry of Health and Welfare (A120254) to SK. This work was also supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by MEST (No. 2011-0016863) to Y.S.L.
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Ko, H.Y., Lee, Y.S., Kim, S. (2014). Bioluminescence Reporter Gene-Based Detection of MicroRNAs. In: Badr, C. (eds) Bioluminescent Imaging. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1098. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-718-1_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-718-1_7
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Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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