The Musashi family RNA-binding proteins in stem cells

Biomolecular Concepts

Horisawa Kenichi¹  Yanagawa Hiroshi¹  Imai Takao²  Okano Hideyuki² 

[1] Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan;Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan;

关键词: musashi;    post-transcriptional regulation;    progenitor cell;    rna-binding protein;    stem cell;   

DOI  :  10.1515/bmc.2010.005

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The Musashi family is an evolutionarily conserved group of RNA-binding proteins. In mammal, two members of the group, Msi1 and Msi2, have been identified to date. Msi1 is considered to play roles in maintaining the stem cell status (stemness) of neural stem/progenitor cells in adults and in the development of central nervous system through translational regulation of its target mRNAs, which encode regulators of signal transduction and the cell cycle. Recently, strong expression of Msi1 in various somatic stem/progenitor cells of adult tissues, such as eye, gut, stomach, breast, and hair follicle, has been reported. The protein is also expressed in various cancer cells, and ectopically emerging cells have been found in neural tissues of patients with diseases involving neural disorder, including epilepsy. Many novel target mRNAs and regulatory pathways of Msi1 have been reported in recent years. Here, we present a review of the functions and action mechanisms of Msi1 protein and discuss possible directions for further study.

【 授权许可】

Unknown