MicroRNAs: key participants in gene regulatory networks

microRNAs (miRNAs) are a newly identified and surprisingly large class of endogenous tiny regulatory RNAs. They exhibit various expressional patterns and are highly conserved across species. Recently, several regulatory targets of miRNAs have been predicted. Functional analysis of the potential targ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in chemical biology 2003-08, Vol.7 (4), p.516-523
Main Authors: Ke, Xi-Song, Liu, Chang-Mei, Liu, De-Pei, Liang, Chih-Chuan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Arabidopsis
Drosophila
Eukaryotic Cells - physiology
Gene Expression Regulation - physiology
MicroRNAs - biosynthesis
MicroRNAs - genetics
MicroRNAs - physiology
RNA, Double-Stranded - genetics
RNA, Double-Stranded - physiology
RNA, Small Interfering - genetics
RNA, Small Interfering - physiology
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Summary:microRNAs (miRNAs) are a newly identified and surprisingly large class of endogenous tiny regulatory RNAs. They exhibit various expressional patterns and are highly conserved across species. Recently, several regulatory targets of miRNAs have been predicted. Functional analysis of the potential targets indicated that miRNAs may be involved in a wide range of pivotally biological events. The nature of miRNAs and their intersection with small interfering RNAs endow them with many regulatory advantages over proteins and make them a potent and novel means to regulate gene expression at almost all levels. Here we argue that miRNAs are key participants in gene regulatory network.
ISSN:1367-5931
1879-0402
DOI:10.1016/S1367-5931(03)00075-9