TABLE 1.
Summary of the most important miRNAs that instruct the identity of multiple cell types in the nervous system.
| CELL type | Developmental processes | miRNA | Known targets | References |
| Neural progenitors | Proliferation | let-7, miR-125, miR-9, miR-137 | lin-28 | Rybak et al., 2008 |
| let-7, miR-9, miR-137 | Nr2e1 | Zhao et al., 2009 | ||
| Proliferation, cell cycle | miR-2115 | Orc4 | Nowakowski et al., 2018 | |
| miR-302a-d | Parchem et al., 2015 | |||
| Proliferation, differentiation | miR-20a, miR-20b, miR-23a | CyclinD1 | Ghosh et al., 2014 | |
| miR-934 | Prodromidou et al., 2020 | |||
| miR-486a/b-5p | Dori et al., 2020 | |||
| Neuronal differentiation | miR-124, miR-9 | REST, BAF complexes | Yoo et al., 2011; Lee et al., 2018 | |
| miR-124 | Ptbp1 | Makeyev et al., 2007 | ||
| Intermediate progenitors | Differentiation | miR-92b | Tbr2 | Nowakowski et al., 2013 |
| Retinal progenitors | Neurogenesis, differentiation | let-7, miR-125, miR-9 | Prtg, Lin28b | La Torre et al., 2013 |
| Olfactory progenitor cells | Neurogenesis, survival | miR-200a-c, miR-429, miR-141 | Mash1 | Choi et al., 2008 |
| Adult neurogenic progenitors | Proliferation, progenitor identity | miR-184, miR-34a | Numbl | Shen et al., 2002; Fineberg et al., 2012 |
| Neuronal differentiation | miR-124 | Sox9 | Cheng et al., 2009 | |
| Cortical pyramidal neurons | Laminar identity | miR-128, let-7b, miR-9 | Shu et al., 2019 | |
| Migration | mi-129-3p/5p | Fmr1 | Wu et al., 2019 | |
| miR-396-3p, miR-496, miR-543 | Cdh2 | Rago et al., 2014 | ||
| Dendritic outgrowth | miR-101 | Slc12a2, Ank2, Kif1a | Lippi et al., 2016 | |
| miR-9 | Giusti et al., 2014 | |||
| Adult-born hippocampal neurons | Migration | miR-19 | Rapgef2 | Han et al., 2016 |
| Dendritic outgrowth | miR-132, miR-212 | Vo et al., 2005; Magill et al., 2010 | ||
| miR-19 | Han et al., 2016 | |||
| Cajal–Retzius cell | Differentiation | miR-9 | Foxg1 | Shibata et al., 2011 |
| Corticospinal motor neurons | Differentiation, axon growth | miR-409-3p | LMO4 | Diaz et al., 2020 |
| Dopamine neurons | Differentiation, survival | miR-133b | Pitx3 | Kim et al., 2007 |
| miR-200c | Zeb2 | Yang et al., 2018 | ||
| Spinal motor neurons | Differentiation, survival | miR-218 | Kcnh1 | Thiebes et al., 2015; Reichenstein et al., 2019 |
| Dorsal root ganglion neurons | Axon growth | miR-132 | Ras1 | Hancock et al., 2014 |
| Retinal ganglion cells | Axon growth | miR-182 | Cfl1 | Bellon et al., 2017 |
| Retinal photoreceptors | Differentiation, morphology | miR-183/96/182 cluster | Busskamp et al., 2014 | |
| Olfactory interneurons | Migration, dendritic outgrowth | miR-125 | Åkerblom et al., 2014 | |
| Olfactory dopamine neurons | Differentiation | miR-7a | Pax6 | de Chevigny et al., 2012 |
| Mechanosensory neurons | Subtype specification | miR-183/96/182 cluster | Shox2, Cacna2d1/2 | Peng et al., 2018 |
| Microglia | Activation state | miR-128, miR-124 | Cebpa | Yang et al., 2017 |
| Oligodendrocytes | Differentiation | miR-219, miR-338 | Sox6, Hes5, Zfp238 | Dugas et al., 2010; Zhao et al., 2010 |
| miR-7a | Pax6, NeuroD4 | Zhao et al., 2012 | ||
| miR-23 | LmnB1 | Lin and Fu, 2009 | ||
| Survival | miR-17/92 cluster | Pten | Budde et al., 2010 | |
| Schwann cells | Differentiation, proliferation | miR-34a | Notch1, Ccnd1 | Viader et al., 2011 |
| miR-140 | Egr2 | Viader et al., 2011 | ||
| Astrocytes | Differentiation, proliferation | miR-31 | lin-28 | Meares et al., 2018 |
| miR-125b | Pogue et al., 2010 | |||
For each cell type, the developmental processes and the relevant miRNAs are listed. In addition, known targets of those miRNAs and the main references are indicated (e.g., in human neural progenitors, the timing and duration of the cell cycle is regulated by the great ape-specific miR-2115 through the repression of the DNA replication regulator ORC4).