Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Targeting of mRNAs by multiple miRNAs: the next step

Review

Oncogene (2010) 29, 2161–2164; doi:10.1038/onc.2010.59; published online 1 March 2010
Targeting of mRNAs by multiple miRNAs: the next step

M E Peter1

1The Ben May Department of Cancer Research, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Correspondence: Professor ME Peter, The Ben May Department of Cancer Research, The University of Chicago, 924 E 57th Street, R112, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. E-mail: MPeter@uchicago.edu

Received 25 January 2010; Accepted 26 January 2010; Published online 1 March 2010.
Top of page
Abstract

Micro(mi)RNAs are small noncoding RNAs that regulate expression of the majority of the genes in the genome at either the messenger RNA (mRNA) level (by degrading mRNA) or the protein level (by blocking translation). miRNAs are thought to be components of vast regulatory networks. Currently, the field is focused primarily on identifying novel targets of individual miRNAs. This focus is about to undergo a dramatic change. In a new paper by Wu et al. (2010) it is experimentally confirmed that multiple miRNAs target the same gene, suggesting that it is the combination of all these activities that determines the expression of miRNA target genes. This study ushers in a new era of miRNA research that focuses on networks more than on individual connections between miRNA and strongly predicted targets.

No comments:

Post a Comment