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MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression. These small, non-coding RNAs post-transcriptionally silence messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in a sequence-specific manner. In this way, miRNAs control important regulatory functions, also in the retina. If dysregulated, these molecules are invol...

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Autores principales: Pawlick, Julia Sophie, Zuzic, Marta, Pasquini, Giovanni, Swiersy, Anka, Busskamp, Volker
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7858257/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33553155
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.620249
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author Pawlick, Julia Sophie
Zuzic, Marta
Pasquini, Giovanni
Swiersy, Anka
Busskamp, Volker
author_facet Pawlick, Julia Sophie
Zuzic, Marta
Pasquini, Giovanni
Swiersy, Anka
Busskamp, Volker
author_sort Pawlick, Julia Sophie
collection PubMed
description MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression. These small, non-coding RNAs post-transcriptionally silence messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in a sequence-specific manner. In this way, miRNAs control important regulatory functions, also in the retina. If dysregulated, these molecules are involved in several retinal pathologies. For example, several miRNAs have been linked to essential photoreceptor functions, including light sensitivity, synaptic transmission, and modulation of inflammatory responses. Mechanistic miRNA knockout and knockdown studies further linked their functions to degenerative retinal diseases. Of note, the type and timing of genetic manipulation before, during, or after retinal development, is important when studying specific miRNA knockout effects. Within this review, we focus on miR-124 and the miR-183/96/182 cluster, which have assigned functions in photoreceptors in health and disease. As a single miRNA can regulate hundreds of mRNAs, we will also discuss the experimental validation and manipulation approaches to study complex miRNA/mRNA regulatory networks. Revealing these networks is essential to understand retinal pathologies and to harness miRNAs as precise therapeutic and diagnostic tools to stabilize the photoreceptors’ transcriptomes and, thereby, function.
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spelling pubmed-78582572021-02-05 MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors Pawlick, Julia Sophie Zuzic, Marta Pasquini, Giovanni Swiersy, Anka Busskamp, Volker Front Cell Dev Biol Cell and Developmental Biology MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression. These small, non-coding RNAs post-transcriptionally silence messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in a sequence-specific manner. In this way, miRNAs control important regulatory functions, also in the retina. If dysregulated, these molecules are involved in several retinal pathologies. For example, several miRNAs have been linked to essential photoreceptor functions, including light sensitivity, synaptic transmission, and modulation of inflammatory responses. Mechanistic miRNA knockout and knockdown studies further linked their functions to degenerative retinal diseases. Of note, the type and timing of genetic manipulation before, during, or after retinal development, is important when studying specific miRNA knockout effects. Within this review, we focus on miR-124 and the miR-183/96/182 cluster, which have assigned functions in photoreceptors in health and disease. As a single miRNA can regulate hundreds of mRNAs, we will also discuss the experimental validation and manipulation approaches to study complex miRNA/mRNA regulatory networks. Revealing these networks is essential to understand retinal pathologies and to harness miRNAs as precise therapeutic and diagnostic tools to stabilize the photoreceptors’ transcriptomes and, thereby, function. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-01-21 /pmc/articles/PMC7858257/ /pubmed/33553155 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.620249 Text en Copyright © 2021 Pawlick, Zuzic, Pasquini, Swiersy and Busskamp. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Cell and Developmental Biology
Pawlick, Julia Sophie
Zuzic, Marta
Pasquini, Giovanni
Swiersy, Anka
Busskamp, Volker
MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors
title MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors
title_full MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors
title_fullStr MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors
title_full_unstemmed MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors
title_short MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors
title_sort mirna regulatory functions in photoreceptors
topic Cell and Developmental Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7858257/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33553155
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.620249
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