title: MicroRNA: a new player in stem cells.
abstract: microRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of endogenous non-protein-coding small RNAs, which negatively regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level in many developmental and metabolic processes. miRNAs regulate a variety of biological processes, including developmental timing, signal transduction, tissue differentiation and maintenance, disease, and carcinogenesis. Emerging evidence demonstrates that miRNAs also play an essential role in stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Some miRNAs are specifically expressed in stem cells, control stem cell self-renewal, and differentiation through negatively regulating the expression of certain key genes in stem cells.
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH), and Department of Environmental Toxicology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409-1163, USA. baohong.zhang@ttu.edu
authors.forename: Baohong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Todd A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs