The imprinted H19 noncoding RNA is a primary microRNA precursor

  1. Xuezhong Cai and
  2. Bryan R. Cullen
  1. Center for Virology and Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA

Abstract

Although H19 was the first imprinted noncoding transcript to be identified, the function of this conserved RNA has remained unclear. Here, we identify a 23-nucleotide microRNA derived from H19 that is endogenously expressed in human keratinocytes and neonatal mice and overexpressed in cells transfected with human or mouse H19 expression plasmids. These data demonstrate that H19 can function as a primary microRNA precursor and suggest that H19 expression results in the post-transcriptional downregulation of specific mRNAs during vertebrate development.

Keywords

Footnotes

  • Reprint requests to: Bryan R. Cullen, Center for Virology and Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA; e-mail: culle002{at}mc.duke.edu; fax (919) 681-8979.

  • Article published online ahead of print. Article and publication date are at http://www.rnajournal.org/cgi/doi/10.1261/rna.351707.

    • Received October 17, 2006.
    • Accepted November 27, 2006.
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  1. Published in Advance January 19, 2007, doi: 10.1261/rna.351707 RNA 13: 313-316 Copyright © 2007 RNA Society

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