Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
RNA Biol. 2011 Nov-Dec;8(6):1105-14. doi: 10.4161/rna.8.6.17410. Epub 2011 Nov 1.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression in a variety of biological pathways such as development and tumourigenesis. miRNAs are initially expressed as long primary transcripts (pri-miRNAs) that undergo sequential processing by Drosha and then Dicer to yield mature miRNAs. miR-1792 is a miRNA cluster that encodes 6 miRNAs and while it is essential for development it also has reported oncogenic activity. To date, the role of RNA structure in miRNA biogenesis has only been considered in terms of the secondary structural elements required for processing of pri-miRNAs by Drosha. Here we report that the miR-1792 cluster has a compact globular tertiary structure where miRNAs internalized within the core of the folded structure are processed less efficiently than miRNAs on the surface of the structure. Increased miR-92 expression resulting from disruption of the compact miR-17~92 structure results in increased repression of integrin α5 mRNA, a known target of miR-92a. In summary, we describe the first example of pri-miRNA structure modulating differential expression of constituent miRNAs.
微小 RNA(miRNA)在多种生物学途径中调节基因表达,如发育和肿瘤发生。miRNA 最初作为长的初级转录物(pri-miRNA)表达,通过 Drosha 然后 Dicer 进行连续加工,产生成熟的 miRNA。miR-1792 是一个 miRNA 簇,编码 6 个 miRNA,虽然它对发育至关重要,但也具有致癌活性。迄今为止,RNA 结构在 miRNA 生物发生中的作用仅被认为是 Drosha 加工 pri-miRNA 所需的二级结构元件。在这里,我们报告 miR-1792 簇具有紧凑的球形三级结构,折叠结构内部的 miRNA 比结构表面的 miRNA 加工效率更低。miR-17~92 结构的破坏导致 miR-92 表达增加,从而导致整合素 α5mRNA 的抑制增加,这是 miR-92a 的已知靶标。总之,我们描述了第一个 pri-miRNA 结构调节组成 miRNA 差异表达的例子。