Figure 1From: Involvement of microRNAs in physiological and pathological processes in the lung miRNA biogenesis. MiRNAs are transcribed by RNA polymerase II from the genomic DNA as long (hundred or thousand nucleotides) primary miRNA transcripts (pri-miRNAs). A local stem-loop structure of pri-miRNAs is then cleaved in the nucleus by the dsRNA-specific ribonuclease Drosha/Pasha to produce a 70 nucleotides long precursor miRNA (pre-miRNA). Pre-miRNAs in form of hairpins are then actively transported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. In the cytoplasm, pre-miRNAs are subsequently cleaved by RNase III Dicer into ~22-nt miRNA duplexes, consisting of the "guide" (miR) strand and the "passenger" (miR*) strand. The "passenger" strand is degraded, the "guide" strand is incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) and serves as a functional, mature miRNA, acting by two different mechanisms according to the complementarity with the target mRNA. Adopted from Kim [15].Back to article page