Cloning and expression of new microRNAs from zebrafish

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in development and regulate the expression of many animal genes by post-transcriptional gene silencing. Here we describe the cloning and expression of new miRNAs from zebrafish. By high-throughput sequencing of small-RNA cDNA libraries from 5-day-old zebrafish larvae and adult zebrafish brain we found 139 known miRNAs and 66 new miRNAs. For 65 known miRNAs and for 11 new miRNAs we also cloned the miRNA star sequence. We analyzed the temporal and spatial expression patterns for 35 new miRNAs and for 32 known miRNAs in the zebrafish by whole mount in situ hybridization and northern blotting. Overall, 23 of the 35 new miRNAs and 30 of the 32 known miRNAs could be detected. We found that most miRNAs were expressed during later stages of development. Some were expressed ubiquitously, but many of the miRNAs were expressed in a tissue-specific manner. Most newly discovered miRNAs have low expression levels and are less conserved in other vertebrate species. Our cloning and expression analysis indicates that most abundant and conserved miRNAs in zebrafish are now known

Transforming "apathy into movement": the role of prosocial emotions in motivating action for social change

This article explores the synergies between recent developments in the social identity of helping, and advantaged groups' prosocial emotion. The authors review the literature on the potential of guilt, sympathy, and outrage to transform advantaged groups' apathy into positive action. They place this research into a novel framework by exploring the ways these emotions shape group processes to produce action strategies that emphasize either social cohesion or social change. These prosocial emotions have a critical but underrecognized role in creating contexts of in-group inclusion or exclusion, shaping normative content and meaning, and informing group interests. Furthermore, these distinctions provide a useful way of differentiating commonly discussed emotions. The authors conclude that the most "effective" emotion will depend on the context of the inequality but that outrage seems particularly likely to productively shape group processes and social change outcomes