MicroRNA
hideIn genetics, microRNAs (miRNA) are single-stranded RNA molecules of 21-23 nucleotides in length, which regulate gene expression. miRNAs are encoded by genes from whose DNA they are transcribed but miRNAs are not translated into protein (i.e. they are non-coding RNAs); instead each primary transcript (a pri-miRNA) is processed into a short stem-loop structure called a pre-miRNA and finally into a functional miRNA. Mature miRNA molecules are partially complementary to one or more messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, and their main function is to down-regulate gene expression. They were first described in 1993 by Lee and colleagues in the Victor Ambros lab , yet the term microRNA was only introduced in 2001 in a set of three articles in Science.
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News tagged with microrna
Short Strand of RNA May Help Predict Survival and Response to Treatment for Patients with Liver Cancer
Oct 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A small RNA molecule, known as a microRNA, may help physicians identify liver cancer patients who, in spite of their poor prognosis, could respond well to treatment with a biological agent called interferon. ...
Scientists illuminate how microRNAs drive tumor progression
Sep 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- UCSF researchers have identified collections of tiny molecules known as microRNAs that affect distinct processes critical for the progression of cancer. The findings, they say, expand researchers' understanding ...
RNAs taking center stage
Sep 10, 2009 |
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RNAs, serving as a mere intermediary between DNA and proteins, were long regarded as a poor relation by researchers, attracting little interest. However, following the discovery of small RNAs known as microRNAs, they have ...
Newly discovered signaling pathway ensures that plants remember to flower
Aug 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Why do some plants blossom even when days are short and gray? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology have found the answer to this question: An endogenous mechanism ...
MicroRNAs help control HIV life cycle
Jun 25, 2009 |
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Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that specific microRNAs (non-coding RNAs that interfere with gene expression) reduce HIV replication and infectivity in human T-cells. In particular, ...
Genome-wide map shows precisely where microRNAs do their work
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jun 17, 2009 |
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MicroRNAs are the newest kid on the genetic block. By regulating the unzipping of genetic information, these tiny molecules have set the scientific world alight with such wide-ranging applications as onions ...
RNA snippet suppresses spread of aggressive breast cancer
Jun 13, 2009 |
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High levels of a tiny fragment of RNA appear to suppress the spread of breast cancer in mice, according to researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
MicroRNAs grease the cell's circadian clockwork
May 31, 2009 |
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Most of our cells possess an internal clock, a group of genes displaying a cyclic expression pattern that reaches a peak once a day. A large number of circadian genes are expressed by organs such as the liver, whose activity ...
Researchers find snippet of RNA that helps make individuals remarkably alike
May 05, 2009 |
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"No two people are alike." Yet when we consider the thousands of genes with frequent differences in genetic composition among different people, it is remarkable how much alike we are.
New insights into progressive hearing loss
Apr 12, 2009 |
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In parallel studies in human and mouse, two groups of researchers have come to the same conclusion: that a new kind of gene is associated with progressive hearing loss. The new gene - called a microRNA - is a tiny fragment ...
MicroRNA undermines tumor suppression
Mar 17, 2009 |
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A small piece of RNA, or microRNA (miRNA), ratchets down the activity of the tumor-suppressor gene p53, according to a study by Whitehead Institute and National University of Singapore researchers.
