TY - JOUR
T1 - Reexamining assumptions about miRNA-guided gene silencing
AU - Kilikevicius, Audrius
AU - Meister, Gunter
AU - Corey, David R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.
PY - 2022/1/25
Y1 - 2022/1/25
N2 - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short endogenously expressed RNAs that have the potential to regulate the expression of any RNA. This potential has led to the publication of several thousand papers each year connecting miRNAs to many different genes and human diseases. By contrast, relatively few papers appear that investigate the molecular mechanism used by miRNAs. There is a disconnect between rigorous understanding of mechanism and the extraordinary diversity of reported roles for miRNAs. Consequences of this disconnect include confusion about the assumptions underlying the basic science of human miRNAs and slow development of therapeutics that target miRNAs. Here, we present an overview of investigations into miRNAs and their impact on gene expression. Progress in our understanding of miRNAs would be aided by a greater focus on the mechanism of miRNAs and a higher burden of evidence on researchers who seek to link expression of a particular miRNA to a biological phenotype.
AB - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short endogenously expressed RNAs that have the potential to regulate the expression of any RNA. This potential has led to the publication of several thousand papers each year connecting miRNAs to many different genes and human diseases. By contrast, relatively few papers appear that investigate the molecular mechanism used by miRNAs. There is a disconnect between rigorous understanding of mechanism and the extraordinary diversity of reported roles for miRNAs. Consequences of this disconnect include confusion about the assumptions underlying the basic science of human miRNAs and slow development of therapeutics that target miRNAs. Here, we present an overview of investigations into miRNAs and their impact on gene expression. Progress in our understanding of miRNAs would be aided by a greater focus on the mechanism of miRNAs and a higher burden of evidence on researchers who seek to link expression of a particular miRNA to a biological phenotype.
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U2 - 10.1093/nar/gkab1256
DO - 10.1093/nar/gkab1256
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34967419
AN - SCOPUS:85123878635
SN - 0305-1048
VL - 50
SP - 617
EP - 634
JO - Nucleic acids research
JF - Nucleic acids research
IS - 2
ER -