AUTHOR=Pawlick Julia Sophie , Zuzic Marta , Pasquini Giovanni , Swiersy Anka , Busskamp Volker 

TITLE=MiRNA Regulatory Functions in Photoreceptors

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2020

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2020.620249

DOI=10.3389/fcell.2020.620249

ISSN=2296-634X

ABSTRACT=MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression. These small, non-coding RNAs post-transcriptionally silence messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in a sequence-specific manner. In this way, miRNAs take over important regulatory functions, also in the retina. If dysregulated, these molecules are involved in several retinal pathologies. For example, several miRNAs have been linked to essential photoreceptor functions, including light sensitivity and synaptic transmission. Mechanistic miRNA knockout and knockdown studies further linked their functions to degenerative retinal diseases. Of note, the type and timing of genetic manipulation before, during, or after retinal development, is important when studying specific miRNA knockout effects. Within this review, we focus on miR-124 and the miR-183/96/182 cluster, which have assigned functions in photoreceptors in health and disease. We also discuss experimental validation and manipulation of complex miRNA regulatory networks: any given miRNA can target hundreds of mRNAs. Revealing these networks is essential to understand retinal pathologies and to harness miRNAs as precise therapeutic tools to stabilize the photoreceptors’ transcriptomes and, thereby, function.