Regulation of microRNA function in animals

By Luca F. R. Gebert, I. MacRae. Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology, 2018

1,927 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Since their serendipitous discovery in nematodes, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key regulators of biological processes in animals. These small RNAs form complex networks that regulate cell differentiation, development and homeostasis. Deregulation of miRNA function is associated with an increasing number of human diseases, particularly cancer. Recent discoveries have expanded our understanding of the control of miRNA function. Here, we review the mechanisms that modulate miRNA activity, stability and cellular localization through alternative processing and maturation, sequence editing, post-translational modifications of Argonaute proteins, viral factors, transport from the cytoplasm and regulation of miRNA–target interactions. We conclude by discussing intriguing, unresolved research questions. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of biological processes. Recent discoveries have expanded our understanding of the control of miRNA function in animals, through alternative processing, miRNA-sequence editing, post-translational modifications of Argonaute proteins, subcellular localization and regulation of miRNA–target interactions.

Subfields: Cancer Research, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9320596e4263093e73b2526e3f9ba187721fde1f

Citations in the corpus

• Non-coding RNAs in disease: from mechanisms to therapeutics (2023, neutral): “Overall, miRNAs have functions in every fundamental biological process, including cell proliferation, differentiation and embryonic development, and their tissue-specific functions have been demonstrated 30–32 .”