Frontiers in Immunology (Jan 2018)

Effects of MicroRNA on Regulatory T Cells and Implications for Adoptive Cellular Therapy to Ameliorate Graft-versus-Host Disease

  • Keli L. Hippen,
  • Michael Loschi,
  • Jemma Nicholls,
  • Kelli P. A. MacDonald,
  • Bruce R. Blazar

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00057
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are key mediators of the immune system. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of ~22 nucleotide non-coding RNAs that are processed from longer precursors by the RNases Drosha and Dicer. miRNA regulates protein expression posttranscriptionally through mRNA destabilization or translational silencing. A critical role for miRNA in Treg function was initially discovered when both Dicer and Drosha knockout (KO) mice were found to develop a fatal autoimmune disease phenotypically similar to Foxp3 KO mice.

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