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From transient recognition to efficient silencing: a RISCky business

Cellular protein levels are finely tuned through microRNA-mediated gene regulation, triggered by RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISCs) that recognize, bind and silence mRNA targets. A recent study shows that, while mRNA target recognition is achieved with only about a third of the guide RNA sequence, formation of an efficient RISC conformation required for target silencing involves the coordination of transient structural states of the entire guide RNA–mRNA duplex.

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Fig. 1: Three states of RISC.

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Acknowledgements

I thank M. Dupont and E. Gagnon for critical reading of this article.

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Correspondence to François Major.

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Major, F. From transient recognition to efficient silencing: a RISCky business. Nat Struct Mol Biol 27, 519–520 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-020-0451-3

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