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. 2011 Aug;30(8):540–550. doi: 10.5732/cjc.011.10197

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Chinese Journal of Cancer

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Figure 1. — The miRNA gene is initially transcribed into a primary miRNA (pri-miRNA) by RNA polymerase II in the nucleus. The pri-miRNA is then processed by the RNase III Drosha into the 70 to 100 nt hairpin precursor miRNA (pre-miRNA). Exportin-5 translocates the pre-miRNA into the cytoplasm, where it is again cleaved by the ribonuclease Dicer into a mature miRNA duplex. The duplex binds to the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), and the complementary miRNA strand is released and degraded. In the RISC, the mature single-stranded miRNA binds to its target mRNA and either induces its degradation or inhibits its translation, depending on the level of binding complementarity.