AUTHOR=Cipolla Gabriel A. 

TITLE=A non-canonical landscape of the microRNA system

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2014.00337

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2014.00337

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>Microribonucleic acids, best known as microRNAs or miRNAs, are small, non-coding RNAs with important regulatory roles in eukaryotic cells. Here, I present a broad review on highly relevant but generally non-depicted features of miRNAs, among which stand out the non-conventional miRNA seed sites, the unusual messenger RNA (mRNA) target regions, the non-canonical miRNA-guided mechanisms of gene expression regulation, and the recently identified new class of miRNA ligands. Furthermore, I address the miRNA uncommon genomic location, transcription, and subcellular localization. Altogether, these unusual features and roles place the miRNA system as a very diverse, complex, and intriguing biological mechanism.</p>