title: Biogenesis of small RNAs in animals.
abstract: Small RNAs of 20-30 nucleotides can target both chromatin and transcripts, and thereby keep both the genome and the transcriptome under extensive surveillance. Recent progress in high-throughput sequencing has uncovered an astounding landscape of small RNAs in eukaryotic cells. Various small RNAs of distinctive characteristics have been found and can be classified into three classes based on their biogenesis mechanism and the type of Argonaute protein that they are associated with: microRNAs (miRNAs), endogenous small interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs or esiRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). This Review summarizes our current knowledge of how these intriguing molecules are generated in animal cells.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and Center for National Creative Research, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Korea. narrykim@snu.ac.kr
authors.forename: V Narry
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jinju
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Mikiko C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Siomi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D039642:Eukaryotic Initiation Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D043244:Ribonuclease III / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D039642:Eukaryotic Initiation Factors; D035683:MicroRNAs; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D043244:Ribonuclease III