A Vehicle for MicroRNA (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

A Vehicle for MicroRNA

Caption

This is the the structure of the Exp-5:RanGTP:pre-miRNA-30a complex. The structure shows human pre-miRNA-30a (yellow stick model) bound to Exp-5 (light blue) with RanGTP (light green). The Exp-5:RanGTP complex exhibiting a baseball mitt-like shape protects the pre-miRNA in the nucleus from digestion by RNase. The ternary complex passes through the nuclear pore from the nucleus to the cytoplasmic space. The pre-miRNA is released from the complex in the cytoplasm and converted to the miRNA that is included in RNA interfere. This image relates to an article that appeared in the Nov. 27 issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. C. Okada at Osaka University in Osaka, Japan, and colleagues, was titled, "A High-Resolution Structure of the Pre-microRNA Nuclear Export Machinery."

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Image courtesy of <i>Science</i>/AAAS

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