Alexander Kofman

By John L. Collins, Bart van Knippenberg, Kai Ding and Alexander V. Kofman

Time-lapse microscopy is a powerful, versatile and constantly developing tool for real-time imaging of living cells. This review outlines the advances of time-lapse microscopy and refers to the most interesting reports, thus pointing at the fact that the modern biology and medicine are entering the thrilling and promising age of molecular cinematography.

Part of the book: Cell Culture

By Miruna Giurgiu, Robert Kaltenbach, Franziska Ahrend, Summer Weeks, Holly Clifton, Martin Bouldo, Vitaly Voloshin, Jiling Zhong, Siegfried Harden and Alexander Kofman

miRNA-mRNA interaction depends on multiple factors such as 3’UTR isoforms, the cell and tissue-specific expression levels of RNA-binding proteins, the sequence context around the mRNA target site, and other mechanisms. Genetic polymorphisms within miRNAs and their target sites appear to be among the most important ones because they influence the mode and outcome of miRNA-mRNA interaction universally and irreversibly. SNP disruption of miRNAs and their binding sites, as well as conformational changes preventing the access of the miRNA to its target site, are adopted as the most credible mechanistic explanations of SNP-mediated effects. The occurrence of multiple SNPs within the same miRNA-binding site implies their combinatorial mode of action. The presence of the repetitive (homologous) binding sites for the same miRNA on its mRNA target may both enhance the miRNA targeting and provide for the backup target site instead of the one disrupted by SNP, thus rescuing the miRNA functionality. While being underexplored, the multiple genetic polymorphisms within the miRNA-binding sites, as well as homologous miRNA-binding sites, may be considered as additional factors influencing miRNA-mediated regulation of gene expression.

Part of the book: Advances in Genetic Polymorphisms