Nature Cell Biology 8, 278 - 284 (2006)
Published online: 19 February 2006; | doi:10.1038/ncb1373
The microRNA miR-181 targets the homeobox protein Hox-A11 during mammalian myoblast differentiationIrina Naguibneva1, Maya Ameyar-Zazoua1, 2, Anna Polesskaya1, 2, Slimane Ait-Si-Ali1, Reguina Groisman1, Mouloud Souidi1, Sylvain Cuvellier1
& Annick Harel-Bellan11
UPR9079 CNRS-Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, 7 rue Guy Moquet, 94801 Villejuif Cedex, France. 2
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence should be addressed to Annick Harel-Bellan ahbellan@vjf.cnrs.fr Deciphering the mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle-cell differentiation in mammals is an important challenge. Cell differentiation involves complex pathways regulated at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Recent observations have revealed the importance of small (20–25 base pair) non-coding RNAs (microRNAs or miRNAs) that are expressed in both lower organisms1 and in mammals2,
3. miRNAs modulate gene expression by affecting mRNA translation4 or stability5. In lower organisms, miRNAs are essential for cell differentiation during development6,
7,
8,
9; some miRNAs are involved in maintenance of the differentiated state. Here, we show that miR-181, a microRNA that is strongly upregulated during differentiation, participates in establishing the muscle phenotype. Moreover, our results suggest that miR-181 downregulates the homeobox protein Hox-A11 (a repressor of the differentiation process), thus establishing a functional link between miR-181 and the complex process of mammalian skeletal-muscle differentiation. Therefore, miRNAs can be involved in the establishment of a differentiated phenotype — even when they are not expressed in the corresponding fully differentiated tissue.
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