A Preliminary Study On The Regulation And Function Of Human-specific Small RNA MiR-941 And Its Sponge-long Non-coding RNA TP73-AS1

miR-941 is the only human-specific miRNA reported so far,and it may contribute to human evolution.The primate-specific long noncoding RNA TP73-AS1 is the natural sponge of miR-941.Their function in normal cells and the regulatory relationship between them are unknown.In this thesis,we explored these issues through the ways of gene overexpression and gene silencing.First,we tested and selected snoRNAs U49 A and U48 as the internal reference genes for the detection of miR-941 expression levels,and ?-actin and GAPDH as the internal reference genes for lncRNA and mRNA expression levels.Second,the stable and transient cell lines overexpressing or silencing miR-941 were established using human glioma cells U251 as the cellular system.Third,detection of miR-941 and TP73-AS1 expression levels in established cell lines revealed that miR-941 and sponge have a certain antagonistic relationship which also shows a time effect,suggesting a dynamic process of regulation in cells.Fourth,miR-941 deficiency resulted in a significant change in the morphology of U251 cells as well as cell death.Immunofluorescence staining revealed distribution changes in microfilament patterns and the expression of important regulatory genes involved in microfilament dynamics such as FLNA was regulated by miR-941.The results in the thesis suggested that the emergence of miR-941 in the human lineage may play an important role in human cell survival and it modifies the cellular phenotype and activities via cytoskeleton remodeling.