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microRNA: Basic Science pp 15–30Cite as

The microRNA Machinery

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 887))

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short (~22 nucleotides) single-stranded RNA molecules that primarily function to negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs have thus been implicated in the regulation of a wide variety of normal cell functions and pathophysiological conditions. The miRNA machinery consists of a series of protein complexes which act to: (1) cleave the precursor-miRNA hairpin from its primary transcript (i.e. DROSHA and DGCR8); (2) traffic the miRNA hairpin between nucleus and cytoplasm (i.e. XPO5); (3) remove the loop sequence of the hairpin by a second nucleolytic cleavage reaction (i.e. DICER1); (4) facilitate loading of the mature miRNA sequence into an Argonaute protein (typically AGO2) as part of the RNA-Induced Silencing Complex (RISC); (5) guide the loaded RISC complex to complementary, or semi-complementary, target transcripts and (6) facilitate gene silencing via one of several possible mechanisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Development, Aging and Regeneration Program, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Thomas C. Roberts

  2. Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Thomas C. Roberts

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  1. Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA

    Gaetano Santulli

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Roberts, T.C. (2015). The microRNA Machinery. In: Santulli, G. (eds) microRNA: Basic Science. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 887. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22380-3_2

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