Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jul 2.
Published in final edited form as: Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2010 Nov;10(11):1753–1762. doi: 10.1586/era.10.168

Figure 1. miRNA processing.

Figure 1.

(1) MiRNAs are synthesized in the nucleus by transcription to form the pri-miR transcript. (2) This is processed within the nucleus by a complex containing Drosha to form the hairpin pre-miR. (3) The pre-miR is exported to the cytoplasm by a mechanism involving exportin and the Ran5 GTPase. (4) The pre-miR is further processed, by Dicer, to form the single-stranded pre-miR. This is loaded into an argonaute protein complex known as the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). (5) The RISC is guided to target mRNAs due to complementarity with the miRNA. This causes repression of transcription, probably by multiple mechanisms. Pre-miR: miRNA precursor; Pri-miR: Primary miRNA.