Open AccessRecent research progress of biogenesis and functions of miRNA*
Author(s) -
Shengyun Ma,
Yu Bai,
Ning Han,
Junhui Wang,
Xiaoyan Weng,
Hongwu Bian,
Ming Zhu
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
yichuan
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0253-9772
DOI - 10.3724/sp.j.1005.2012.00383
Subject(s) - microrna , biogenesis , argonaute , rna interference , biology , computational biology , drosha , rna , gene silencing , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene
MicroRNA*s are about 22nt noncoding RNAs, which are processed from precursors with a characteristic hairpin secondary structure in the biogenesis of microRNAs. Recently, miRNA* strands were shown to mediate post-transcriptional regulatory networks, rather than serve merely as non-functional by-product in general view. Unlike miRNAs bound to AGO1, miRNA* strands are bound to AGO2 to form RISC duplex to mediate RNAi, which is similar to siRNA. This paper mainly reviewed the recent research progresses on miRNA*, such as the biosynthesis, biological characteristics, and functions.