Evolutionary emergence of microRNAs in human embryonic stem cells.

ABSTRACT: Human embryonic stem (hES) cells have unique abilities to divide indefinitely without differentiating and potential to differentiate into more than 200 cell types. These properties make hES cells an ideal model system for understanding early human development and for regenerative medicine. Molecular mechanisms including cellular signaling and transcriptional regulation play important roles in hES cell differentiation. However, very little information is available on posttranscriptional regulation of hES cell pluripotency, self-renewal, and early decisions about cell fate. microRNAs (miRNAs), 22-nt long non-coding small RNAs found in plants and animals, regulate gene expression by targeting mRNAs for cleavage or translation repression. In hES cells we found that 276 miRNAs were expressed; o

SUBMITTER: Cao H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2474702 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature