CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've discovered how microRNA molecules are activated -- an event that is critical for the creation of embryonic stem cells.
MicroRNAs, along with proteins called master transcription factors, instruct embryonic stem cells to either reproduce or begin their transformation into another cell type, such as a skin or muscle cell, the researchers said.
Prior studies showed the importance of microRNAs in the maintenance of embryonic stem cells in their embryonic state, but failed to determine how they were activated.
Now scientists from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute say they've discovered exactly how the activation is achieved.
"By understanding how master transcription factors turn microRNAs on and off, we now see how these two groups of gene regulators work together to control the state of the cell," said Richard Young of Whitehead, senior author of the study.
He said the finding moves scientists closer to understanding how adult cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic state and then to other types of cells.
The study is reported in the Aug. 8 issue of the journal Cell.
