脳神経科学を社会へ還流する教育研究拠点　東北大脳科学グローバルCOE

■日時　2012年 3月8日（木）17:40?18:40
■会場　星陵キャンパス・1号館 大会議室
■演者　Davide De Pietri Tonelli, Ph.D.
　　　　Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Italian　　
　　　　Institute of Technology (IIT) Genova, Italy
■演題　An integrated approach for the investigation of microRNAs in vivo

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that exert their functions by silencing, mostly at the post-transcriptional level, specific mRNAs (i.e. “targets”). MiRNAs are rapidly emerging as a new layer of regulation of virtually all biological pathways. In order to better understand the role of miRNAs in complex processes, such as neocortical development, it is of strong interest to develop enabling technologies to detect and monitor miRNA expression in vivo. Moreover, most of the protein-coding genes are predicted targets of miRNAs (>60%), but the vast majority of them still await experimental validation. Therefore the identification and validation of miRNA targets is of a paramount importance to understand the role of these tiny RNAs.

Here, we have developed new approaches to detect and monitor miRNA expression in vivo. We then used a combination of genome-wide profiling and in vivo validation to identify and validate novel targets of miRNAs. As a proof of concept, here I will show unpublished results that we obtained in developing mouse neocortex. This approach however, could be easily applied to many other tissues, organs and animal models.

連絡先：創生応用医学研究センター　発生発達神経科学分野 (大隅典子) 内線8203