Signal for the nuclear import of miRNA

From the latest issue of Science:

We demonstrated that despite their small size, specific miRNAs contain additional sequence elements that control their posttranscriptional behavior, including their subcellular localization. We showed that human miR-29b, in contrast to other studied animal miRNAs, is predominantly localized to the nucleus. The distinctive hexanucleotide terminal motif of miR-29b acts as a transferable nuclear localization element that directs nuclear enrichment of miRNAs or small interfering RNAs to which it is attached.

Cool.

Ref:
Hwang HW, Wentzel EA, Mendell JT.
A hexanucleotide element directs microRNA nuclear import.
Science (07) 315:97-100

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