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The functions of microRNAs in pluripotency and reprogramming

Nature Cell Biology volume 14, pages 1114–1121 (2012)Cite this article

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Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) express a distinctive set of microRNAs (miRNAs). Many of these miRNAs have similar targeting sequences and are predicted to regulate downstream targets cooperatively. These enriched miRNAs are involved in the regulation of the unique PSC cell cycle, and there is increasing evidence that they also influence other important characteristics of PSCs, including their morphology, epigenetic profile and resistance to apoptosis. Detailed studies of miRNAs and their targets in PSCs should help to parse the regulatory networks that underlie developmental processes and cellular reprogramming.

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Figure 1: Summary of the published interactions between pluripotency-associated miRNAs and their target mRNAs from experiments in the murine system.
Figure 2: Summary of the published interactions between pluripotency-associated miRNAs and their target mRNAs from experiments in the human system.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grants RM1-07007, CL1-00502, RT1-01108, and TR1-01250, and NIH grant 5R33MH087925 to JFL. HLS was supported by the Esther O'Keefe Foundation and a CIRM Scholar Graduate Student Award TG2-01165. LCL was supported by NIH grant K12 HD001259 and The Hartwell Foundation.

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  1. Trevor R. Leonardo and Heather L. Schultheisz: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heather L. Schultheisz and Jeanne F. Loring are in the Department of Chemical Physiology, Trevor R. Leonardo, The Scripps Research Institute and the Center for Regenerative Medicine, La Jolla, California 92037, USA,

    Trevor R. Leonardo, Heather L. Schultheisz & Jeanne F. Loring

  2. Louise C. Laurent is in the Department of Reproductive Medicine, University of California, La Jolla, California 92037, USA,

    Louise C. Laurent

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Correspondence to Jeanne F. Loring or Louise C. Laurent.

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Leonardo, T., Schultheisz, H., Loring, J. et al. The functions of microRNAs in pluripotency and reprogramming. Nat Cell Biol 14, 1114–1121 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb2613

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