Visit our Expo - Redox and Inflammation signaling 2012

Ambion
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, RNA molecules encoded in the genomes of plants and
animals. In mammalians, these highly conserved, ~21-mer RNAs regulate the expression of
genes by binding to the 3'-untranslated regions (3'-UTR) of specific mRNAs resulting in
translation inhibition.
In this tsudy, we describe methods to study their expression and to investigate their functional
implications.
Expression profile can be easily performed at array scale allowing miRNA global gene
expression studies of different biological processes like cancer, differenciation, viral
infection, etc.
Functional analysis was performed using miRNA Precursor (Pre-miR) molecules that mimic
and activate miRNA inhibitory action. Additionally, miRNA Inhibitor (Anti-miR) molecules
that inhibit miRNA action on target mRNAs were used to further confirm the functionality of
certain miRNAs.
Using these tools, we were able to demonstrate the implication of let-7 in the regulation of
Ras protein expression in lung cancer patients.
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