Fig. 1. miR-326 encourages TH-17 cell differentiation.
miR-326 is transcribed from non-coding regions of the β-arrestin gene. In the cytoplasm, miR-326 binds to a complimentary UTR in the 3’ region of the Ets-1 message and prevents translation of the message. This prevents Ets-1 protein from accumulating and interfering with TH-17 cell differentiation by way of IL-2 synthesis and signaling pathways. Interestingly, miR-326 was not found to target Foxp3 mRNA to perturb Foxp3 protein expression required for the inhibition of RORγt activity. Signaling events downstream of the IL-6R are still required to prevent TH-17 cell lineage antagonism by Foxp3. RORγt expression was upregulated by miR-326, suggesting that miR-326 may somehow enhance the expression of the TH-17 cell lineage transcription factor via interference with an unknown inhibitor of RORγt.