4 reasons for working with lentiviral microRNAs

How to maximize success when studying microRNA regulation

microRNAs are noncoding RNAs that mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation through a mechanism that involves RISC-mediated binding to complementary sequences largely in the 3’ UTR of mammalian target genes. microRNAs bind to targeted messenger RNAs (mRNAs) via imperfect sequence complementarity resulting largely in mRNA destabilization and translational attenuation. Because microRNA targeting of transcripts is directed by partial sequence complementarity, each microRNA can potentially regulate hundreds of genes.

shMIMIC Lentiviral microRNAs and shMIMIC Inducible Lentiviral microRNAs can help make this potentially difficult process of understanding your specific biology considerably easier.

Here’s how:

1. shMIMIC microRNAs are available as either purified lentiviral particles or glycerol stocks

If you want to create stable cells to express the microRNA or are working with difficult-to-transfect cells, lentiviral particles are a great asset to your work. If you want to transfect the plasmid, keep a renewable resource, or package particles on your own in the lab, the glycerol stock format is an excellent solution.

2. microRNAs are available for human, mouse, and rat

Every annotated microRNA for these three species present in miRBase v21 is available; that means you’re working with the most up-to-date scientifically accurate annotation.

3. microRNAs can be expressed in both inducible and constitutive formats

Whether you are looking for the temporal control that an inducible promoter provides or the always-on consistency of a constitutive promoter; there is an ideal solution for your experiment. Don’t forget your vector matched positive and negative controls (constitutive and inducible).

4. shMIMIC lentiviral vectors are configurable

Built on the SMARTchoice platform, you can choose from a selection of eight inducible promoter and reporter combinations or twelve constitutive promoter and reporter combinations. This ensures that you can select a highly active promoter for your cell type to maximize microRNA expression and select a fluorescent reporter to match your experimental requirements.

Additional Resources 

Dharmacon microRNA Selection Guide

• A quick tool to help determine the ideal Dharmacon microRNA product line and format for your needs.

Dharmacon™ SMARTvector™ Lentiviral shRNA and shMIMIC Lentiviral microRNA - Recommended Reading

• List of peer-reviewed publications citing successful use of Dharmacon shMIMIC Lentiviral microRNA or SMARTvector Lentiviral shRNA .