Cell biology of RNA silencing: Turning miRNAs INside OUT
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich
MicroRNA – a small RNA molecule that is known to regulate proteinbiosythesis by repressing the expression of specific mRNAs. But could there be more to this little „regulator molecule“? Is it possible that miRNA is not only of great importance within the cell, but plays an equally essential role extracellularly? Dr. Bogdan Mateescu has devoted his research to the clarification of the plenty, mostly unresolved, functions of miRNA, such as its possible impact on human cancer progression and chemosensitivity, RNA silencing and even the concept of milk miRNAs being a potent cell-to-cell signalling molecule between mothers and infants.