类固醇受体激活物(steroid receptor activator,SRA)是一种类固醇受体辅激活物.最初的研究认为,SRA只存在RNA形式,不存在蛋白质形式.但是后来的研究发现,SRA是在RNA和蛋白质两个水平上发挥功能的分子,其cDNA序列存在687 bp保守的核心区域,该核心区域对其发挥转录共激活活性是必需的.SRA的RNA形式主要参与核受体的转录共激活作用,其表达与乳腺癌的发生有很大关系,SRA的蛋白质形式(steroid receptor activator protein,SRAP)也具有类似的功能.但是不同于RNA形式,SRAP可结合到特定基因的启动子区域,并起到阻遏物的作用.本文对SRA的特点、表达及功能等方面的最新研究进展及其可能的作用机制与作用形式进行概述.
SRA is a steroid receptor co-activator. It has originally been characterized as only one non-coding transcript specifically co-activating steroid receptors. But the recent studies of SRA reveal thatproducts of SRA gene have the unusual property to function both at the RNA and the protein levels. ThecDNA sequences of SRA contain an identical 687 bp core sequence that is highly conserved in theevolution and is necessary for the transcriptional coactivity of steroid receptors. SRA-RNA has long beenknown to increase the transcriptional activation of multiple nuclear receptors. And its expression issuspected relevant to breast cancer. More recently,SRAP was proposed to have a similar function with itsRNA transcript. But different from its RNA transcript,SRAP is recruited to specific promoter regions andacts as a transcriptional repressor. In this paper,we summarized the recent proceeding of researches incharacteristics,expressions and functions of SRA and the possible mechanism and action mode on it.