Abstract
Senescence represents a state of indefinite growth arrest in cells that have reached the end of their replicative life span, have become damaged, or express aberrant levels of cancer-related proteins. While senescence is widely considered to represent a tumor-suppressive mechanism, the accumulation of senescent cells in tissues of older organisms is believed to underlie age-associated losses in physiologic function and age-related diseases. With the emergence of microRNAs (miRNAs) as a major class of molecular regulators of senescence, we review the transcriptional and post-transcriptional factors that control senescence-associated microRNA biosynthesis. Focusing on their enhancement or repression of senescence, we describe the transcription factors that govern the synthesis of primary (pri-)miRNAs, the proteins that control the nuclear processing of pri-miRNAs into precursor (pre-)miRNAs, including RNA editing enzymes, RNases, and RNA helicases, and the cytoplasmic proteins that affect the final processing of pre-miRNAs into mature miRNAs. We discuss how miRNA biogenesis proteins promote or inhibit senescence, and thus influence the senescent phenotype that affects normal tissue function and pathology.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 491-500 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Ageing Research Reviews |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Dicer
- Drosha
- Microprocessor
- Precursor microRNA
- Primary microRNA
- RISC
- Senescence
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biotechnology
- Biochemistry
- Aging
- Molecular Biology
- Neurology