( Prevalence and ...)Reagents for Up and Down-Regulation of miRNA Activity in Mammalian Cells

More than 200 miRNAs have been cloned and sequenced from human and mouse samples. Each miRNA apparently regulates multiple genes, and miRNAs are thought to regulate as many as 10% of human genes [1]. Several reports predict mRNA target sites for miRNAs [2,3]. A handful of these predicted sites have been verified by introducing miRNAs into cells and monitoring the expression of the putative target gene, but thousands of predicted sites remain to be verified. To facilitate these studies, Ambion has developed a series of precursor miRNAs (Pre-miR miRNA Precursors) and a series of miRNA inhibitors (Anti-miR miRNA Inhibitors).

In transfection experiments, the effects of introducing, increasing, or reducing the level of a given human or mouse miRNA in the cell can be assessed by measuring the expression level of the putative target gene. Reduced expression of the target gene in Pre-miR miRNA-transfected cells or increased expression of the target gene in Anti-miR miRNA Inhibitor-transfected cells is consistent with the prediction that the miRNA regulates the expression of a given gene. In addition to studying the impact of miRNAs on the expression of single genes, the Pre-miR miRNA Precursors and Anti-miR miRNA Inhibitors can be used to identify miRNAs that participate in various cellular processes.

Pre-miR miRNAs--Synthetic miRNAs

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