miRNAs articles within Nature

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  • Article |

    The active-state structure of human DICER bound to pre-miRNA reveals the structural basis for the specificity of DICER in how it selects substrates in a sequence dependent manner, and sheds light on DICER-related diseases.

    • Young-Yoon Lee
    • , Hansol Lee
    •  & Soung-Hun Roh

  • Article |

    Massively parallel assays reveal a highly conserved sequence motif termed the GYM motif, which potentiates RNA interference by directing Dicer-mediated small RNA processing.

    • Young-Yoon Lee
    • , Haedong Kim
    •  & V. Narry Kim

  • Article |

    Herpesvirus microRNAs interfere directly with host cell microRNA processing, thereby disrupting mitochondrial architecture, evading intrinsic host defences and driving the switch from latent to lytic infection.

    • Thomas Hennig
    • , Archana B. Prusty
    •  & Bhupesh K. Prusty

  • Article |

    Analyses of primary and relapse samples of embryonal tumours with multilayered rosettes provide insights into the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development and opportunities for the treatment of this deadly disease.

    • Sander Lambo
    • , Susanne N. Gröbner
    •  & Marcel Kool

  • Letter |

    Plant primary microRNA (miRNA) transcripts (pri-miRNAs) are not just a source of miRNAs but can also encode regulatory peptides (miPEPs) that enhance the accumulation, and so the effect, of the corresponding mature miRNAs—an observation that may have agronomical applications.

    • Dominique Lauressergues
    • , Jean-Malo Couzigou
    •  & Jean-Philippe Combier

  • Letter |

    The addition of the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) mark to primary microRNAs by METTL3 in mammalian cells is found to promote the recognition of these microRNA precursors by DGCR8, a component of the microprocessor complex.

    • Claudio R. Alarcón
    • , Hyeseung Lee
    •  & Sohail F. Tavazoie

  • Article |

    Programmed −1 ribosomal frameshifting (−1 PRF) is a process by which a signal in a messenger RNA causes a translating ribosome to shift by one nucleotide, thus changing the reading frame; here −1 PRF in the mRNA for the co-receptor for HIV-1, CCR5, is stimulated by two microRNAs and leads to degradation of the transcript by nonsense-mediated decay and at least one other decay pathway.

    • Ashton Trey Belew
    • , Arturas Meskauskas
    •  & Jonathan D. Dinman

  • Letter |

    The generation of widespread epigenetically activated short interfering RNAs by the targeting of microRNAs to transposon transcripts in Arabidopsis thaliana is shown to be a latent mechanism that only becomes active when the transcripts are epigenetically reactivated, for example, during reprogramming of the germ line.

    • Kate M. Creasey
    • , Jixian Zhai
    •  & Robert A. Martienssen

  • Letter |

    This study shows that Dis3l2 is the 3′–5′ exonuclease that mediates the degradation of uridylated precursor let-7 microRNA; this is the first physiological RNA substrate identified for this new exonuclease, which causes the Perlman syndrome of fetal overgrowth and Wilms’ tumour susceptibility when mutated.

    • Hao-Ming Chang
    • , Robinson Triboulet
    •  & Richard I. Gregory

  • Letter |

    A role is demonstrated for miR-34a, a microRNA that is upregulated in the ageing heart; miR-34a downregulates PNUTS, a protein that protects cardiomyocytes and telomeres, silencing of miR-34a is therefore a promising therapeutic target.

    • Reinier A. Boon
    • , Kazuma Iekushi
    •  & Stefanie Dimmeler

  • Letter |

    A post-transcriptional switch that controls spatiotemporal and mutually exclusive expression of two alternative gene products from a single transcript is reported; these gene products—miR-198 and FSTL1—are found to have opposing functions on keratinocyte migration and wound healing.

    • Gopinath M. Sundaram
    • , John E. A. Common
    •  & Prabha Sampath

  • News & Views |

    Heart muscle cells die en masse after injury, yet the adult mammalian heart retains little capacity to regenerate them. Regulatory microRNA sequences may stimulate self-renewal of these muscle cells. See Article p.376

    • Mark Mercola

  • Article |

    The human heart regenerates poorly, causing insufficient healing after injury; here, microRNAs screened for the ability to induce cardiomyocyte proliferation are shown to stimulate cardiac regeneration and almost complete recovery of the heart after infarction.

    • Ana Eulalio
    • , Miguel Mano
    •  & Mauro Giacca

  • News Feature |

    Tiny molecules called microRNAs are tearing apart traditional ideas about the animal family tree.

    • Elie Dolgin

  • Letter |

    MicroRNA in worms is shown to target non-coding primary microRNA transcripts through interaction with the Argonaute protein, promoting the production of further microRNA and thus generating a positive-feedback loop.

    • Dimitrios G. Zisoulis
    • , Zoya S. Kai
    •  & Amy E. Pasquinelli

  • Letter |

    Adult muscle stem cells are used as a model system to show that the microRNA pathway, and specifically miR-489, is essential for the maintenance of the quiescent state of an adult stem-cell population by suppressing a key proliferation factor, Dek.

    • Tom H. Cheung
    • , Navaline L. Quach
    •  & Thomas A. Rando

  • Article |

    MicroRNAs are known to affect the levels of both messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein. But as protein production is dependent on the presence of mRNA, it was not clear what the relative contributions of microRNA-mediated mRNA cleavage and translational repression were. These authors have parsed out the two mechanisms, and unexpectedly find that microRNAs function primarily by affecting mRNA levels rather than their translation. This suggests a reassessment of many previous conclusions is necessary.

    • Huili Guo
    • , Nicholas T. Ingolia
    •  & David P. Bartel

  • Letter |

    One model for cancer development posits that the proliferating cells in a tumour can become 'addicted' to activating mutations in an oncogene. With the realization that certain microRNAs promote tumorigenesis, it has been proposed that tumours may also become dependent on such 'oncomiRs'. Here, evidence is provided that the gene encoding microRNA-21 is an oncogene, and that in its absence, tumours undergo apoptosis and regress. Thus tumours can indeed become addicted to oncomiRs.

    • Pedro P. Medina
    • , Mona Nolde
    •  & Frank J. Slack

  • Letter |

    The deacetylase SIRT1 has been suggested to function in normal brain physiology, but it is not known whether it participates in higher-order brain functions. These authors demonstrate a role for SIRT1 in synaptic plasticity and memory formation, with activation enhancing synaptic strength and memory formation. These effects were regulated through a post-transcriptional mechanism involving CREB activation and miR-134 production. This interplay represents another mechanism of plasticity regulation with behavioural consequences.

    • Jun Gao
    • , Wen-Yuan Wang
    •  & Li-Huei Tsai

  • Article |

    Extended cocaine taking triggers several structural and functional changes in the brain that may lead to compulsive drug seeking, but the mechanisms that regulate the process are unclear. Here, a microRNA — miR-212 — is identified that is upregulated in the striatum of rats with a history of extended access to cocaine. The authors suggest that miR-212 protects against the development of compulsive drug taking, and that it may act through the CREB protein, a known regulator of the rewarding effects of cocaine.

    • Jonathan A. Hollander
    • , Heh-In Im
    •  & Paul J. Kenny

  • News & Views |

    Cocaine abuse results in increased craving for the drug. But in the long run, cocaine intake induces the expression of a microRNA in the brain, and this seems to limit further drug intake.

    • Marina R. Picciotto

  • News & Views |

    Pseudogenes are considered to be defunct relatives of known genes. But there is some surprising news: pseudogenes are functional and could have a role in the control of cancer1. Two experts discuss the significance of these findings for understanding the regulation of gene expression and cancer biology.

    • Isidore Rigoutsos
    •  & Frank Furnari

  • News & Views |

    In plant roots, patterning of two types of water-conducting xylem tissue is determined by a signalling system that involves the reciprocal dance of a mobile transcription factor and mobile microRNAs.

    • Ben Scheres

  • Journal Club |

    • Jean-Christophe Marine

  • Article |

    MicroRNAs, which regulate gene expression, are transcribed as longer sequences that are processed to produce the mature form. Two nuclease enzymes, Drosha and Dicer, are known to act sequentially to trim the microRNA to size. Here, however, a subset of microRNAs that includes miR-451, important for erythropoiesis, is found to be processed independently of Dicer. Rather, the Argonaute protein — part of the complex that aligns microRNA and messenger RNA — carries out the secondary cleavage.

    • Sihem Cheloufi
    • , Camila O. Dos Santos
    •  & Gregory J. Hannon

  • Letter |

    During embryonic development, blood vessels remodel in response to blood flow. Here, a genetic pathway is described through which this mechanosensory stimulus is integrated with early developmental signals to remodel vessels of the aortic arch in zebrafish. It is found that the flow-induced transcription factor klf2a is required to induce the expression of an endothelial-specific microRNA, activating signalling through the growth factor Vegf.

    • Stefania Nicoli
    • , Clive Standley
    •  & Nathan D. Lawson

  • Letter |

    Recent work suggests that microRNAs might have been important in the evolution of complexity in multicellular animals. Here it is shown that the most ancient known microRNA, miR–100, was initially active in neurosecretory cells around the mouth. Other highly conserved varieties were first present in specific tissues and organ systems. Thus, microRNA expression was initially restricted to an ancient set of ancient animal cell types and tissues.

    • Foteini Christodoulou
    • , Florian Raible
    •  & Detlev Arendt

  • Article |

    The differentiation of an embryonic stem cell (ESC) requires both suppression of the self-renewal process and activation of the specific differentiation pathway. The let-7 family of microRNAs (miRNAs) are now shown to suppress the self-renewal program in cells that are normally unable to silence this program, whereas introduction of ESC cell cycle regulating miRNAs blocks the action of let-7. Thus, the interplay between these two groups of miRNAs dictates cell fate.

    • Collin Melton
    • , Robert L. Judson
    •  & Robert Blelloch

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