Speaker
Prof.
Andrea Pagnani
(Human Genetics Foundation (HuGeF))
Description
It has been recently proposed that competitive endogenous
RNAs (ceRNAs) sequester microRNAs to regulate mRNA
transcripts containing common microRNA recognition elements
(MREs). The ceRNA hypothesis stems from the observation that
RNA transcripts can communicate with each other through a
recently discovered mechanism. MicroRNAs are tiny snippets
of RNA (~22nt long) which negatively regulate target gene
expression via translational inhibition or transcript
cleavage. A microRNA may target many different transcripts,
and conversely, individual transcripts may be bound by
multiple different microRNAs. In addition to this
conventional microRNA → RNA function, it has recently been
established that a reversed RNA → microRNA dimension exists,
whereby ceRNAs regulate transcript expression via
competition for common microRNAs, with microRNA response
elements (abbreviated MREs) as the building blocks of this
‘RNA language’. Both phenomenological and theoretical
aspects will be addressed.
Primary author
Prof.
Andrea Pagnani
(Human Genetics Foundation (HuGeF))
