Seitz, HerveTushir, Jogender S.Zamore, Phillip D.2022-08-232022-08-232011-06-072012-03-22Silence. 2011 Jun 7;2:4. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1758-907X-2-4">Link to article on publisher's site</a>1758-907X (Linking)10.1186/1758-907X-2-42164988521649885https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/39493BACKGROUND: MicroRNA (miRNA) are diverse in sequence and have a single known sequence bias: they tend to start with uridine (U). RESULTS: Our analyses of fly, worm and mouse miRNA sequence data reveal that the 5'-U is recognized after miRNA production. Only one of the two strands can be assembled into Argonaute protein from a single miRNA/miRNA* molecule: in fly embryo lysate, a 5'-U promotes miRNA loading while decreasing the loading of the miRNA*. CONCLUSION: We suggest that recognition of the 5'-U enhances Argonaute loading by a mechanism distinct from its contribution to weakening base pairing at the 5'-end of the prospective miRNA and, as recently proposed in Arabidopsis and in humans, that it improves miRNA precision by excluding incorrectly processed molecules bearing other 5'-nt.en-US<p>© 2011 Seitz et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0</a>), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</p>MicroRNAsRNA-Induced Silencing ComplexBiochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural BiologyGenetics and GenomicsLife SciencesMedicine and Health SciencesJournal Articlehttps://escholarship.umassmed.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3288&amp;context=oapubs&amp;unstamped=1https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/22892691130oapubs/2289