MiR-218 microRNA precursor family
Non-coding RNA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
miR-218 microRNA precursor is a small non-coding RNA that regulates gene expression by antisense binding.
| mir-218 microRNA precursor family | |
|---|---|
Predicted secondary structure and sequence conservation of mir-218 | |
| Identifiers | |
| Symbol | mir-218 |
| Rfam | RF00255 |
| miRBase | MI0000294 |
| miRBase family | MIPF0000026 |
| Other data | |
| RNA type | Gene; miRNA |
| Domain | Eukaryota |
| GO | GO:0035195 GO:0035068 |
| SO | SO:0001244 |
| PDB structures | PDBe |
miR-218 appears to be a vertebrate specific microRNA and has now been predicted and experimentally confirmed in a wide range of vertebrate species.[1] The extents of the hairpin precursors are not known. In this case the mature sequence in excised from the 5'arm of the hairpin.
miR-218 is specifically expressed by mammalian motor neurons during embryonic development into adulthood, and motor neurons lacking expression of miR-218 exhibit hyperexcitability, neuromuscular junction failure, and neurodegeneration, as demonstrated by knockout mouse models.[2]
The involvement of miR-218 in cancer has also been investigated. miR-218, along with miR-585, has been found to be silenced by DNA methylation in oral squamous cell carcinoma.[3] It is also downregulated in Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, with artificially-induced expression serving to slow tumour growth.[4] miR-218 has also been found to have tumour suppressing qualities in bladder cancer cells.[5] miR-218 expression was associated with overall survival in breast cancer datasets.[6]