This study shows that in quiescent mammalian cells, microRNAs (miRNAs) can remain stable for at least 3 weeks in complexes that contain Argonaute. These complexes are smaller than the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) and lack GW182 (a protein that is essential for miRNA-mediated silencing). The authors studied quiescent immune cells, and when these cells were given mitogenic stimulation, the miRNA–Argonaute complexes were recruited into RISCs. The stable miRNA–Argonaute complexes could allow cells to retain long-term information for post-transcriptional regulation.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Olejniczak, S. H. et al. Long-lived microRNA–Argonaute complexes in quiescent cells can be activated to regulate mitogenic responses. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 17 Dec 2012 (doi:10.1073/pnas.1219958110)
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Muers, M. Long-lived microRNA complexes. Nat Rev Genet 14, 78 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3416
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3416
