Authors: Emilia Sikora, Włodzimierz Ptak, Krzysztof Bryniarski
Postȩpy higieny i medycyny doświadczalnej (Online). 01/2011; 65:482-95.
The functioning of an organism depends on the precise control mechanisms, constantly adjusted to the actual state. Therefore, there is a need for efficient communication between both adjacent andThe functioning of an organism depends on the precise control mechanisms, constantly adjusted to the actual state. Therefore, there is a need for efficient communication between both adjacent and distant cells, which may be executed by proteins such as hormones, neurotransmitters and cytokines. Recently another means of regulation has emerged - short regulatory RNAs (srRNAs). Although discovered only a couple of years ago, the mechanism of RNA interference has already become a topic of thousands of publications, defining its roles in both physiological and pathological processes, such as cancerogenesis and autoimmunization. RNAs regulating cell function may be coded in its genome (both exons and introns) or be introduced from the external environment. In mammals microRNAs (miRNAs) cooperate with proteins from the Ago/PIWI family to form effector ribonucleoprotein complexes, and owing to their complementarity to the target mRNA, control genes' expression at the posttranscriptional level, either through the suppression of mRNA translation or through mRNA degradation. SrRNAs are crucial regulators throughout the development of immune cells, starting from hematopoietic stem cells, up to the effector cells of the adaptive immune response. Moreover, some of the regulatory cells perform their function by releasing miRNAs, which are then transported to the target cells, possibly enclosed in the exosomes.
