MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in diverse pathways in eukaryotes, and the dysregulation of miRNA biogenesis is often associated with human diseases. Biogenesis of canonical miRNAs is initiated by RNA polymerase II‐mediated transcription. The primary transcript (pri‐miRNA) gets processed into mature miRNA by two RNase III type enzymes; Drosha and Dicer. Drosha cleaves a pri‐miRNA and releases a small hairpin (called pre‐miRNA). Pre‐miRNA is subsequently cleaved by Dicer into ~22 nt mature miRNA. Mature miRNA is then accepted by the Argonaute protein to constitute the RNA silencing complex.Regulation of miRNA biogenesis can be achieved at either transcriptional or post‐transcriptional level. Post‐transcriptional control is widespread and can take place at multiple steps including Drosha processing, nuclear export, Dicer processing, RNA editing, uridylation, and decay. We have been investigating the regulatory mechanisms of cancer‐associated miRNAs. We identified several specific RNA binding proteins that post‐transcriptionally regulate miRNA biogenesis. This talk will focus on the roles of the RNA binding proteins in miRNA biogenesis in cancer and stem cells.
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