Kyung-Won Min, Myung Hyun Jo, Minseok Song, Ji Won Lee, Min Ji Shim, Kyungmin Kim, Hyun Bong Park, Shinwon Ha, Hyejin Mun, Ahsan Polash, Markus Hafner, Jung-Hyun Cho, Dongsan Kim, Ji-Hoon Jeong, Seungbeom Ko, Sungchul Hohng, Sung-Ung Kang, Je-Hyun Yoon
Although Argonaute (AGO) proteins have been the focus of microRNA (miRNA) studies, we observed AGO-free mature miRNAs directly interacting with RNA-binding proteins, implying the sophisticated nature of fine-tuning gene regulation by miRNAs. To investigate microRNA-binding proteins (miRBPs) globally, we analyzed PAR-CLIP data sets to identify RBP quaking (QKI) as a novel miRBP for let-7b. Potential existence of AGO-free miRNAs were further verified by measuring miRNA levels in genetically engineered AGO-depleted human and mouse cells...
January 2024: RNA Biology