Mir-124 microRNA precursor family

The miR-124 microRNA precursor is a small non-coding RNA molecule that has been identified in flies (MI0000373), nematode worms (MI0000302), mouse (MI0000150) and human (MI0000443). The mature ~21 nucleotide microRNAs are processed from hairpin precursor sequences by the Dicer enzyme, and in this case originates from the 3' arm. miR-124 has been found to be the most abundant microRNA expressed in neuronal cells. Experiments to alter expression of miR-124 in neural cells did not appear to affect differentiation.

Targets of miR-124

 * Visvanathan et al.. showed that miR-124 targets the mRNA of the anti-neural function protein SCP1 (small C-terminal domain phosphatase 1).


 * Makeyev et al showed that miR-124 directly targets PTBP1 (PTB/hnRNP I) mRNA, which encodes a global repressor of alternative pre-mRNA splicing in non-neuronal cells.