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Comment
. 2011 Nov 2;30(21):4340-1.
doi: 10.1038/emboj.2011.373.

A novel nuclear miRNA mediated modulation of a non-coding antisense RNA and its cognate sense coding mRNA

John J Rossi  1
Affiliations
Comment

A novel nuclear miRNA mediated modulation of a non-coding antisense RNA and its cognate sense coding mRNA

John J Rossi. EMBO J. .

Abstract

EMBO J 30 21, 4414–4422 (2011); published online September 30 2011

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are 21–23 nucleotide long RNAs that associate with the Argonaute family of proteins and direct interactions of these and RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) components to the 3′-UTRs of mRNAs that harbour partially complementary sequences. The paradigm for miRNA function has been that they inhibit gene expression by translational inhibition and subsequent mRNA degradation. However, a series of recent studies have revealed that subsets of miRNAs are also localized in the nucleus, suggesting that they perform different functions in this cellular compartment. In this issue of The EMBO Journal, Hansen et al (2011) describe that nuclear localized miRNAs target non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) revealing an intriguing and novel mechanism for gene regulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Model for stabilization–destabilization of CDR1 sense and circular antisense RNAs. Circular CDR1 non-coding antisense pairs with sense CDR1 mRNA in the nucleus and stabilizes it for export to the cytoplasm where the mRNA can be translated. In the presence of miR-671-Ago2-RISC in the nucleus, the antisense is degraded, destabilizing the sense mRNA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

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