In a recent report,Zheng et aldemonstrate a technique for the specific inhibition of miRNA expression inCaenorhabditis elegansusing modified antisense oligonucleotides, which could be utilized as a potent tool for the study of regulation and function of miRNAs in vivo. Their article is published inSilence, and is discussed further in amini-review by Slack et al, published inJournal of Biology.

The authors developed a new class of fluorescently labeled antisense reagents in order to specifically inhibit the function of miRNAs inC. elegans.These antisense oligonucleotides were introduced into the germline of adult hermaphroditeC. elegansand passed onto the worms’ progeny, and were successfully shown to efficiently and specifically inhibit Lin-4 miRNA in several different tissues.Confirmation of the specificity of this method was obtained usingtwo further dextran conjugates, designed to blocklsy-6andlet-7respectively, two miRNAs of known function inC. elegans;both were shown to specifically block their target miRNAs. These antisense reagents can also be used in combination to inhibit more than one miRNA at a time, allowing researchers to study the effect of multiple miRNAs on gene expression and examine miRNA interactions.

The authors anticipate that this new class of antisense oligonucleotide will offer scientists a new experimental approach complimentary to the mutational strategy currently used for the study of miRNA function in vivo.

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