Title:MicroRNAs - Key Players in Haematopoiesis
VOLUME: 8 ISSUE: 1
Author(s):Stephanie Gounaris-Shannon, Sarah Newbury and Timothy Chevassut
Affiliation:Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9PS, UK.
Keywords:miRNA, haematopoiesis, cancer, DiGeorge Syndrome, double-stranded RNA
Abstract:Since the initial identification of microRNAs (miRNA) in C. elegans, functional characterisation of these small
non-coding RNAs has demonstrated their critical involvement in numerous biological processes. Typically 20-22
nucleotides in length, miRNAs act as negative gene regulators at the post-transcriptional level. A large body of evidence
points to the role of miRNAs in haematopoiesis. miRNAs provide a network of signals important for haematopoietic cell
maintenance, lineage differentiation and cell maturation. The mechanism by which they mediate their effects in
haematopoiesis is complex, demonstrating cell-specific, tissue-specific and maturation-specific expression. Understanding
haematopoietic expression and key targets of miRNAs is important to further elucidate the functional roles of miRNAs.
Furthermore, an appreciation of their role in normal physiological processes sheds light on the possibility that aberrations
of miRNA expression may perturb these processes and cause disease. Indeed, deregulation of miRNAs has been
demonstrated in oncogenesis and in haematological malignancies in particular. This review focuses on miRNA expression
in normal haematopoiesis and provides brief insight into how deregulation of these miRNA may contribute to cancer
pathogenesis.
