Bioimaging of transcriptional activity of microRNA124a during neurogenesis

Abstract

Objectives: A special vector system was developed to monitor the in vitro and in vivo endogenous level of a primary transcript of miR124a during neuronal differentiation Results: The upstream regions of miR124a were fused with luciferase (Gluc) and their activity was measured. During neurogenesis of P19 cells, the primary transcript level of miR124a was increased 1.5-times compared to the undifferentiated P19 cells. P19 cells grafted to nude mice exhibited the same pattern of luciferase activity in vivo as they did in vitro. Conclusion: The expression of primary miR124a during neurogenesis was successfully imaged by in vitro and in vivo luciferase reporter gene-based method.