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Science 319 (5871): 1789-1790

Copyright © 2008 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Multilevel Regulation of Gene Expression by MicroRNAs

Eugene V. Makeyev, and Tom Maniatis

Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ~22-nucleotide-long noncoding RNAs that normally function by suppressing translation and destabilizing messenger RNAs bearing complementary target sequences. Some miRNAs are expressed in a cell- or tissue-specific manner and may contribute to the establishment and/or maintenance of cellular identity. Recent studies indicate that tissue-specific miRNAs may function at multiple hierarchical levels of gene regulatory networks, from targeting hundreds of effector genes incompatible with the differentiated state to controlling the levels of global regulators of transcription and alternative pre-mRNA splicing. This multilevel regulation may allow individual miRNAs to profoundly affect the gene expression program of differentiated cells.

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. E-mail: makeyev{at}mcb.harvard.edu (E.V.M.); maniatis{at}mcb.harvard.edu (T.M.)


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Eukaryotic Genome as an RNA Machine.
P. P. Amaral, M. E. Dinger, T. R. Mercer, and J. S. Mattick (2008)
Science 319, 1787-1789
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Science Signaling. ISSN 1937-9145 (pre-2008: Science's STKE. ISSN 1525-8882)