Dear colleague,

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of 19–24 nucleotides in length. In 1993, the first miRNA, lin-4, was discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), and thereafter, scores of miRNAs have been identified to date in plants, animals, and other eukaryotes. Some of these miRNAs were shown to be highly conserved among species. Many miRNAs are ubiquitously expressed in organisms; however, some are known to exhibit specific expression patterns in organ- or cell-type-dependent manners, indicating specific roles in cells and/or organs.

It is generally known that miRNAs bind to specific sites in the 3’-UTRs of their target mRNAs, which leads to mRNA degradation or translational repression. Recent studies have shown that miRNA binding sites have also been identified within other mRNA regions such as 5’-UTRs and coding sequences. Interestingly, some studies have also shown that miRNAs actually mediate the upregulation of gene expression under specific conditions. Furthermore, several studies have indicated that long noncoding RNAs can act as miRNA sponges, competitively inhibiting miRNA-mediated gene silencing. Thus, the miRNA–mRNA regulatory network is thought to be more complicated than expected.

MiRNAs are involved in a variety of biological processes, and their aberrant expression is associated with human, animal, and plant diseases. MiRNAs dysregulated in many types of cancers, also called “onco-miRs”, have been well studied, and some of them have been suggested to be possible therapeutic targets for cancers. Furthermore, miRNAs have been shown to be secreted from human cells via tiny vesicles called exosomes. Therefore, miRNAs are expected to be able to serve as biomarkers of specific cancer types.

In this Special Issue, we would like to focus on cutting-edge research on miRNA biosynthesis and miRNA-mediated gene regulation. We welcome not only studies focusing on basics but also those based on applications.

Dr. Osamu Ishibashi
Guest Editor

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• microRNA (miRNA)
• miRNA-mRNA regulatory network
• onco-miR