The E3 ubiquitin ligase mechanism specifying target-directed microRNA degradation.

ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) associate with Argonaute (AGO) proteins to form complexes that down-regulate target RNAs, including mRNAs from most human genes^1-3. Within each complex, the miRNA pairs to target mRNAs to specify their repression, and AGO provides effector function while also protecting the miRNA from cellular nucleases^2-5. Although much has been learned about this mode of posttranscriptional gene regulation, less is known about how the miRNAs themselves are regulated. In one such regulatory pathway, unusual miRNA targets called "trigger" RNAs reverse the canonical regulatory logic and instead down-regulate microRNAs^6-21. This target-directed miRNA degradation (TDMD) is thought to require a cullin-RING E3 ligase (CRL) because it depends on the cullin prot

SUBMITTER: Farnung J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12803205 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature