MicroRNAs are non-coding short (~23 nucleotides) RNAs that mediate post-transcriptional regulation through sequence-specific gene silencing. The role of miRNAs in neuronal development, synapse formation and synaptic plasticity has been highlighted. However, the role of neuronal activity on miRNA regulation has been less focused. Neuronal activity-dependent regulation of miRNA may fine-tune gene...

The cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNF)alpha is a vital mediator of the innate immune response, and a pleiotropic regulator of cellular function. Its involvement in rheumatoid arthritis is illustrated by the clinical benefits of TNF alpha blockade. Post-transcriptional regulation (the control of mRNA stability and translation) appears to play a critical role in the regulation of TNF alpha exp...

Transient incubation of chicken lymphoblastoid (MSB) cells at elevated temperatures induces the synthesis of three heat shock proteins of 89,000 Da (HSP89), 70,000 Da (HSP70), and 23,000 Da (HSP23). We have examined the effects of heat shock on the transcription and post-transcriptional regulation of the chicken HSP70 and beta-actin genes. The rate of HSP70 transcription is rapidly induced by h...

* SCIENCE is published weekly on Friday, except the last week in December, and with an extra issue in March by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1333 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005. Secondclass postage (publication No. 484460) paid at Washington, DC, and at an additional entry. Now combined with The Scientific Monthly® Copyright 1989 by the American Association for th...

The period (per) and timeless (tim) genes are intimately involved in the generation and maintenance of Drosophila circadian rhythms. Both genes are expressed in a circadian manner, and the two proteins (PER and TIM) participate in feedback regulation which contributes to the mRNA oscillations. Previous studies indicate that the circadian regulation is in part transcriptional. To investigate qua...

Post-transcriptional regulation is a very important mechanism to control gene expression in changing environments. In the past decade, a lot of interest has been directed toward the role of small RNAs (sRNAs) in bacterial post-transcriptional regulation. However, sRNAs are not the only molecules controlling gene expression at this level, RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play an important role as wel...

Accumulating data indicate the existence of natural antisense transcripts (asRNAs), frequently transcribed from eukaryotic genes and do not encode proteins in many cases. However, their importance has been overlooked due to their heterogeneity, low expression level, and unknown function. Genes induced in responses to various stimuli are transcriptionally regulated by the activation of a gene pr...

The STAR family of proteins links signaling pathways to various aspects of post-transcriptional regulation and processing of RNAs. Sam68 belongs to this class of heteronuclear ribonucleoprotein particle K (hnRNP K) homology (KH) single domain-containing family of RNA-binding proteins that also contains some domains predicted to bind critical components in signal transduction pathways. In respon...