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. 2021 Aug 20;10(8):2142. doi: 10.3390/cells10082142

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© 2021 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Biogenesis of miRNAs. (1) The transcription of miRNAs by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) produces the primary miRNA (pri-miRNA). (2) The Drosha/DGCR8 complex cuts the pri-miRNA, making the pre-miRNA. (3) Next, exportin-5 promotes nuclear translocation of the pre-miRNA. (4) Once the pre-miRNA has been translocated to the cytoplasm, it is processed by the Dicer/TRPB complex. (5) After cutting, a miRNA:miRNA* duplex is formed, which dissociates, causing the miRNA to mature. (6) Mature miRNA is incorporated into the RISC complex, to mediate gene silencing, either by repression (imperfect matching) or degradation (perfect matching) of target mRNA, inhibiting protein translation (7). Figure created in MindtheGraph by Muñoz-Carrillo et al., 2021.