《生命科学》 2010, 22(7): 661-667
摘 要：摘 要：心脏是哺乳动物在胚胎发育时期最早形成的器官，心血管系统的正常发育及功能维持受到精确的调控。近年来，心血管疾病已成为危害人类生命的首要杀手之一，因此，对心血管的发育及疾病发生的机制研究一直是生命科学研究的热点问题。microRNA (miRNA)是一类长约18~25 nt的单链非编码小RNA，主要通过结合于靶基因的3{$39}非翻译区抑制靶基因的翻译或导致mRNA降解，从而抑制靶基因的表达。miRNA在许多生物学过程中发挥重要的调控作用，如细胞增殖、分化、凋亡、癌症发生等。最近研究表明，miRNA也参与调控心血管系统的发育和疾病发生过程。在此，该文对miRNA在心血管系统发育和疾病中的作用做一综述。
关键词：miRNA；心脏发育；血管新生；心血管疾病
Abstract: Abstract：Heart is the first organ formed during the embryonic development of the mammalian organism. The development and function maintenance of the cardiovascular system is under precise control. Recently， the cardiovascular diseases have been the primary cause of morbidity and mortality. Therefore， much effort is made to understand the development and pathology of the cardiovascular system. MicroRNA (miRNA) is recently discovered single-stranded small non-coding RNA ranging in size from 18 to 25 nt. MiRNA binds to the 3{$39} untranslated region of the target mRNAs and negatively regulates the expression of the targets by translational inhibition or mRNA cleavage. It is reported that miRNAs are involved in many biological processes including cell proliferation， differentiation， apoptosis and carcinogenesis. Current studies indicate that miRNA also participates in cardiovascular biology. Here， we summarized the function of the miRNAs in the development and the pathology of the cardiovascular system.
Key words: miRNA; cardiac development; vasculogenesis; cardiovascular diseases
