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This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) OA All Versions of this Article: 2007-0625v1 26/2/356    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Lakshmipathy, U. Articles by Hart, R. P. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lakshmipathy, U. Articles by Hart, R. P.

TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL RESEARCH: MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS SERIES

Concise Review: MicroRNA Expression in Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

^aStem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Invitrogen Corporation, Carlsbad, California, USA;
^bW. M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

Key Words. MicroRNA • Gene regulation • Epigenetics • Human mesenchymal stem cells • Review

Correspondence: Uma Lakshmipathy, Ph.D., Invitrogen Corporation, 1600 Faraday Avenue, Carlsbad, California 92008, USA. Telephone: 760-268-7465; Fax: 760-602-6637; e-mail: uma.lakshmipathy{at}invitrogen.com

Received August 6, 2007; accepted for publication October 31, 2007.
First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS   November 8, 2007.



Mesenchymal stem cells, or multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), isolated from various adult tissue sources have the capacities to self-renew and to differentiate into multiple lineages. Both of these processes are tightly regulated by genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Emerging evidence indicates that the class of single-stranded noncoding RNAs known as microRNAs also plays a critical role in this process. First described in nematodes and plants, microRNAs have been shown to modulate major regulatory mechanisms in eukaryotic cells involved in a broad array of cellular functions. Studies with various types of embryonic as well as adult stem cells indicate an intricate network of microRNAs regulating key transcription factors and other genes, which in turn determine cell fate. In addition, expression of unique microRNAs in specific cell types serves as a useful diagnostic marker to define a particular cell type. MicroRNAs are also found to be regulated by extracellular signaling pathways that are important for differentiation into specific tissues, suggesting that they play a role in specifying tissue identity. In this review, we describe the importance of microRNAs in stem cells, focusing on our current understanding of microRNAs in MSC and their derivatives.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.