MicroRNA biogenesis: coordinated cropping and dicing.

Department of Biological Sciences and Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Korea. narrykim@snu.ac.kr

The recent discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) took many by surprise because of their unorthodox features and widespread functions. These tiny, approximately 22-nucleotide, RNAs control several pathways including developmental timing, haematopoiesis, organogenesis, apoptosis, cell proliferation and possibly even tumorigenesis. Among the most pressing questions regarding this unusual class of regulatory miRNA-encoding genes is how miRNAs are produced in cells and how the genes themselves are controlled by various regulatory networks.

PMID: 15852042 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]