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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2010 Jan 26;34(4):575–587. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01126.x

Figure 1.

Figure 1

MicroRNA biogenesis and potential influences of alcohol. Hairpin primary miRNA transcripts are successively cleaved by RNases Drosha and Dicer while undergoing transport from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Association of the mature miRNA with an Argonaut protein (Ago) directs the complex to complementary target sequences in specific messenger RNAs, leading to their cleavage or disruption of their translation. Ethanol may affect miRNA expression by altering activation of transcription factors (TF) and/or epigenetic modifications of DNA and DNA-associated histone complexes, including methylation (Me) and acetylation (Ac). See text for additional details.