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Nucleic Acids Research Advance Access originally published online on August 6, 2008
Nucleic Acids Research 2008 36(16):5232-5241; doi:10.1093/nar/gkn513
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Nucleic Acids Research, 2008, Vol. 36, No. 16 5232-5241
© 2008 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Gene regulation, Chromatin and Epigenetics

An intronic microRNA silences genes that are functionally antagonistic to its host gene

Sailen Barik*

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of South Alabama, College of Medicine, 307 University Boulevard, Mobile, Alabama 36688-0002, USA

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +1 251 460 6860; Fax: +1 251 460 6850; Email: sbarik{at}jaguar1.usouthal.edu

Received June 23, 2008. Revised July 18, 2008. Accepted July 27, 2008.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding RNAs that down-regulate gene expression by silencing specific target mRNAs. While many miRNAs are transcribed from their own genes, nearly half map within introns of ‘host’ genes, the significance of which remains unclear. We report that transcriptional activation of apoptosis-associated tyrosine kinase (AATK), essential for neuronal differentiation, also generates miR-338 from an AATK gene intron that silences a family of mRNAs whose protein products are negative regulators of neuronal differentiation. We conclude that an intronic miRNA, transcribed together with the host gene mRNA, may serve the interest of its host gene by silencing a cohort of genes that are functionally antagonistic to the host gene itself.


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