Disease relevance of DICER1

• To address the broader role for miRNAs in neuroprotection, we also showed that loss of all miRNAs, by dicer mutation, dramatically enhances pathogenic polyQ protein toxicity in flies and in human HeLa cells [1].

High impact information on DICER1

• We conclude that Dicer-related RNA interference machinery is involved in the formation of the heterochromatin structure in higher vertebrate cells [2].
• Here, we report the generation of a conditional loss-of-function Dicer mutant in a chicken-human hybrid DT40 cell line that contains human chromosome 21 [2].
• We show that loss of Dicer results in cell death with the accumulation of abnormal mitotic cells that show premature sister chromatid separation [2].
• Loss of Dicer fowls up centromeres [3].
• The vectors use a chicken U6 promoter to express RNAs modelled on microRNA30, which are embedded within chicken microRNA operon sequences to ensure optimal Drosha and Dicer processing of transcripts [4].

Biological context of DICER1

• Intronic miRNAs, derived from introns by RNA splicing and Dicer processing, can interfere with intracellular mRNAs to silence that gene expression [5].
• Assignment of dicer gene to chicken chromosome 5 by radiation hybrid panel mapping [6].

References