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The miRNA biogenesis pathway. Primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) contain hairpin structures that are recognized by either the Microprocessor or splicing machinery in the nucleus. Pre-miRNAs are then exported to the cytoplasm where they are processed into mature single-stranded miRNAs and silence target genes. Regulatory proteins are generically labelled ‘R’ at known points of regulation in maturation of specific miRNAs.