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Comment
. 2013 Nov 19:2:e01710.
doi: 10.7554/eLife.01710.

MicroRNAs get to the heart of development

Ge Tao  1 , James F Martin
Affiliations
Comment

MicroRNAs get to the heart of development

Ge Tao et al. Elife. .

Abstract

A microRNA regulates the expression of a network of genes in the heart to ensure that progenitor cells develop into strongly contractile cardiac muscle.

Keywords: Telokin; cardiac; genetics; microRNA-1; sarcomere; smooth muscle gene expression.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests:The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. A network of genes regulated by a microRNA controls muscle development within the heart.
The formation of highly contractile cardiac muscle, as opposed to weakly contractile smooth muscle, depends on the inhibition of a protein called telokin by a microRNA called miR-1. In addition to directly inhibiting the expression of telokin (left), miR-1 also inhibits the expression of telokin indirectly by reducing the expression of a protein called smMYOCD that, working with a transcription factor called SRF, activates the transcription of telokin (right). This combination of two different regulatory mechanisms guarantees that telokin will be inhibited in heart cells, ensuring the formation of highly contractile cardiac muscle.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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