A noncanonical Pol III-dependent, Microprocessor-independent biogenesis pathway generates a germline-enriched miRNA family.

ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. In canonical miRNA biogenesis, primary miRNAs are transcribed from intergenic loci or intronic regions by RNA polymerase II and sequentially cleaved by the Microprocessor complex and Dicer, and the resulting mature miRNAs are loaded into Argonaute to repress target mRNAs. A minority of miRNAs are generated via noncanonical biogenesis pathways that bypass the Microprocessor complex and/or Dicer. Here, we describe a new Pol III-dependent, Microprocessor-independent, and Dicer-dependent biogenesis pathway exemplified by the mir-1829 family in Caenorhabditis elegans Although the mir-1829 family loci reside in intronic regions of protein-coding genes, we show that the miRNAs are derived

SUBMITTER: Sakhawala RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12487709 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature