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Genomic organization of microRNAs
Author(s) -
Olena Abigail F.,
Patton James G.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of cellular physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 174
eISSN - 1097-4652
pISSN - 0021-9541
DOI - 10.1002/jcp.21993
Subject(s) - microrna , biology , biogenesis , gene , genome , translation (biology) , untranslated region , function (biology) , genetics , computational biology , three prime untranslated region , genomic organization , regulation of gene expression , rna , gene expression , messenger rna
microRNAs (miRNAs) are small (∼22 nt) noncoding RNAs that have been shown to regulate gene expression post‐transcriptionally. They function by pairing with the 3′ UTR of target mRNAs and repressing translation or by targeting the mRNA for degradation. miRNAs are involved in diverse aspects of development, maintenance, and disease, and are largely evolutionarily conserved in metazoans. Searching the genomes of organisms from viruses to worms to humans has revealed potentially thousands of miRNA genes. Understanding the patterns of genomic organization between species cannot only help to refine tools to identify new miRNAs, but also provide insight into miRNA biogenesis and function. J. Cell. Physiol. 222: 540–545, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.