MicroRNA 203a explained

MicroRNA 203a is a small RNA that in humans is encoded by the preMIR203A gene.^[1]

Function

microRNAs (miRNAs) are short (20-24 nt) non-coding RNAs that are involved in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in multicellular organisms by affecting both the stability and translation of mRNAs. miRNAs are transcribed by RNA polymerase II as part of capped and polyadenylated primary transcripts (pri-miRNAs) that can be either protein-coding or non-coding. The primary transcript is cleaved by the Drosha ribonuclease III enzyme to produce an approximately 70-nt stem-loop precursor miRNA (pre-miRNA), which is further cleaved by the cytoplasmic Dicer ribonuclease to generate the mature miRNA and antisense miRNA star (miRNA*) products. The mature miRNA is incorporated into an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), which recognizes target mRNAs through imperfect base pairing with the miRNA and most commonly results in translational inhibition or destabilization of the target mRNA. The RefSeq represents the predicted microRNA stem-loop.

Further reading

• Sonkoly E, Wei T, Janson PC, Sääf A, Lundeberg L, Tengvall-Linder M, Norstedt G, Alenius H, Homey B, Scheynius A, Ståhle M, Pivarcsi A . MicroRNAs: novel regulators involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis? . PLOS ONE . 2 . 7 . e610 . 2007 . 17622355 . 1905940 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0000610 . 2007PLoSO...2..610S . free .
• Lena AM, Shalom-Feuerstein R, Rivetti di Val Cervo P, Aberdam D, Knight RA, Melino G, Candi E . miR-203 represses 'stemness' by repressing DeltaNp63 . Cell Death Differ. . 15 . 7 . 1187–95 . 2008 . 18483491 . 10.1038/cdd.2008.69 . free .
• Greither T, Grochola LF, Udelnow A, Lautenschläger C, Würl P, Taubert H . Elevated expression of microRNAs 155, 203, 210 and 222 in pancreatic tumors is associated with poorer survival . Int. J. Cancer . 126 . 1 . 73–80 . 2010 . 19551852 . 10.1002/ijc.24687 . free .
• Sonkoly E, Wei T, Pavez Loriè E, Suzuki H, Kato M, Törmä H, Ståhle M, Pivarcsi A . Protein kinase C-dependent upregulation of miR-203 induces the differentiation of human keratinocytes . J. Invest. Dermatol. . 130 . 1 . 124–34 . 2010 . 19759552 . 10.1038/jid.2009.294 . free .
• Furuta M, Kozaki KI, Tanaka S, Arii S, Imoto I, Inazawa J . miR-124 and miR-203 are epigenetically silenced tumor-suppressive microRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma . Carcinogenesis . 31 . 5 . 766–76 . 2010 . 19843643 . 10.1093/carcin/bgp250 . free .
• Melar-New M, Laimins LA . Human papillomaviruses modulate expression of microRNA 203 upon epithelial differentiation to control levels of p63 proteins . J. Virol. . 84 . 10 . 5212–21 . 2010 . 20219920 . 2863797 . 10.1128/JVI.00078-10 .
• Ikenaga N, Ohuchida K, Mizumoto K, Yu J, Kayashima T, Sakai H, Fujita H, Nakata K, Tanaka M . MicroRNA-203 expression as a new prognostic marker of pancreatic adenocarcinoma . Ann. Surg. Oncol. . 17 . 12 . 3120–8 . 2010 . 20652642 . 10.1245/s10434-010-1188-8 . 24422912 .
• Wei T, Orfanidis K, Xu N, Janson P, Ståhle M, Pivarcsi A, Sonkoly E . The expression of microRNA-203 during human skin morphogenesis . Exp. Dermatol. . 19 . 9 . 854–6 . 2010 . 20698882 . 10.1111/j.1600-0625.2010.01118.x . 30026838 .
• McKenna DJ, McDade SS, Patel D, McCance DJ . MicroRNA 203 expression in keratinocytes is dependent on regulation of p53 levels by E6 . J. Virol. . 84 . 20 . 10644–52 . 2010 . 20702634 . 2950558 . 10.1128/JVI.00703-10 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Entrez Gene: MicroRNA 203a. 2017-07-03.