Grant: Project Grant

MicroRNAs are short nucleic acid polymers that guide gene regulation activities. They are important under normal physiological conditions for homeostasis and adaptation, but defects in their function and biogenesis can lead to a broad diversity of disease ranging from diabetes, to hearth disease, to cancer. A unique feature of microRNAs is that roughly 1/3 of the 2000 are derived from are derived from polycistrons; their active form is released from shared precursors (called pri-miRNAs). The reasons why this is the case are not known. Using the latest in genomic edition, proteomics and molecular interaction analyzes, this grant will test the idea that the structures and interactions of the miRNA polycistronic precursors control their functions, and exert an influence over each other through coordinated and competitive functional interactions. This project will shine an entirely new light on a newly identified layer of gene control, and potentially reveal new genomic bases for diseases.