The miR-124 microRNA precursor is a small

non-coding RNA A non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is a functional RNA molecule that is not translated into a protein. The DNA sequence from which a functional non-coding RNA is transcribed is often called an RNA gene. Abundant and functionally important types of non- ...

molecule that has been identified in flies
MI0000373
, nematode worms
MI0000302
, mouse
MI0000150
and human
MI0000443
. The mature ~21

nucleotide Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecul ...

microRNA MicroRNA (miRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21 to 23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals and some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. m ...

s are processed from

hairpin A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the hai ...

precursor sequences by the

Dicer Dicer, also known as endoribonuclease Dicer or helicase with RNase motif, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the gene. Being part of the RNase III family, Dicer cleaves double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and pre-microRNA (pre-miRNA) into short ...

enzyme, and in this case originates from the 3' arm. miR-124 has been found to be the most abundant microRNA expressed in neuronal cells. Experiments to alter expression of miR-124 in neural cells did not appear to affect differentiation. However these results are controversial since other reports have described a role for miR-124 during neuronal differentiation.

Targets of miR-124

* Visvanathan ''et al.'' showed that miR-124 targets the mRNA of the anti-neural function

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

SCP1 (small C-terminal domain phosphatase 1). * Makeyev et al. showed that miR-124 directly targets

PTBP1 Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''PTBP1'' gene. This gene belongs to the subfamily of ubiquitously expressed heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs). The hnRNPs are RNA-binding protei ...

(PTB/hnRNP I) mRNA, which encodes a global repressor of alternative pre-mRNA splicing in non-neuronal cells. *Arrant et al. wrote that miR-124 changes

glutamate receptor Glutamate receptors are synaptic and non synaptic receptors located primarily on the membranes of neuronal and glial cells. Glutamate (the conjugate base of glutamic acid) is abundant in the human body, but particularly in the nervous syste ...

composition in the

prefrontal cortex In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA ...

and can decrease social dysfunction in

frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or frontotemporal degeneration disease, or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes. FTDs broadly present a ...

Clinical medicine

Presence of the G allele, compared to the C allele, in SNP rs531564 in pri-miR-124-1, measured by PCR-RFLP in leukocyte DNA, is linked to a reduced risk of gastric cancer (e.g. GG v CC OR 0.34 95% CI 0.19-0.59, p<0.001).

References

External links

*
miRBase family for miR-124
MicroRNA MicroRNA precursor families {{molecular-cell-biology-stub