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MicroRNA — A Switch that Determines Cell Behavior and Holds Answers on Disease, Prevention, Treatment
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Thousands of research studies are under way to better understand microRNA — short for micro ribonucleic acid. These tiny genetic strands may play a role in identifying, treating and possibly preventing many diseases, according to the July issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.
MicroRNA acts like a switch that changes cell behavior. Different microRNAs are in each tissue of the body. For instance, what makes liver cells unique is, in part, their expression of a particular microRNA that influences which protein is produced. [click to continue…]
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MicroRNAs are known to regulate gene expression by interacting with incompletely complementary sequences in a target messenger RNA. But is the converse true: can mRNA expression affect the distribution of miRNAs? A new study1 shows that the 3′ untranslated region of a pseudogene — the tumour suppressor pseudogene PTENP1 — can bind the same miRNAs as the related protein-coding gene, PTEN. This suggests that pseudogenes may have a biological function as ‘decoys’, sequestering miRNAs and thereby affecting their regulation of expressed genes. [click to continue…]
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