Fig. 1
From: Role of microRNAs in obesity and obesity-related diseases
miRNA biogenesis. Single miRNAs are transcribed by RNA polymerase II (pri-miRNA) from genomic DNA. The pri-miRNA is processed to pre-miRNA by Drosha-DGCR8. The pre-miRNA is transferred to the cytoplasm by exportin-5 where it is recognized and cleaved by the DICER complex to create a miRNA duplex. The duplex unwinds, and the mature miRNA assembles into RISC. The miRNA base-pairs with target mRNA determines gene silencing via mRNA cleavage or translation repression depending on the degree of homology between the miRNA “seed” to the 3′ UTR target sequence of the mRNA