The Let-7 MicroRNA Target Gene, Mlin41/Trim71 is Required for Mouse Embryonic Survival and Neural Tube Closure

Overview

Journal Cell Cycle

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2008 Dec 23

PMID 19098426

Citations 69

Authors

Betsy R Maller Schulman

Xianping Liang

Carlos Stahlhut

Casey DelConte

Giovanni Stefani

Frank J Slack

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the let-7 microRNA (miRNA) controls the timing of key developmental events and terminal differentiation in part by directly regulating lin-41. C. elegans lin-41 mutants display precocious cell cycle exit and terminal differentiation of epidermal skin cells. lin-41 orthologues are found in more complex organisms including both mice and humans, but their roles are not known. We generated Mlin41 mouse mutants to ascertain a functional role for Mlin41. Strong loss of function Mlin41 gene-trap mutants demonstrated a striking neural tube closure defect during development, and embryonic lethality. Like C. elegans lin-41, Mlin41 also appears to be regulated by the let-7 and mir-125 miRNAs. Since Mlin41 is required for neural tube closure and survival it points to human lin-41 (HLIN41/TRIM71) as a potential human development and disease gene.

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