| miR-208 | |
|---|---|
Conserved secondary structure of miR-208 microRNA precursor | |
| Identifiers | |
| Symbol | miR-208 |
| Alt. Symbols | MIR208 |
| Rfam | RF00749 |
| miRBase | MI0000251 |
| miRBase family | MIPF0000178 |
| NCBI Gene | 406990 |
| HGNC | 31585 |
| OMIM | 611116 |
| RefSeq | NR_029595 |
| Other data | |
| RNA type | miRNA |
| Domain | Metazoa |
| GO | 0035195 |
| SO | 0001244 |
| Locus | Chr. 14 q11.2 |
| PDB structures | PDBe |
miR-208 is a family of microRNA precursors found in animals, including humans. The ~22 nucleotide mature miRNA sequence is excised from the precursor hairpin by the enzyme Dicer. This sequence then associates with RISC which effects RNA interference.
In humans, the gene for miR-208 is located in an intron of MYH7.
miR-208 has been deemed a "myomiR" as it is specifically expressed, or found at much higher levels, in cardiac tissue. Other myomiRs include miR-1 and miR-133. miR-208 is thought to be dysregulated in various cardiovascular diseases.
miR-208 functions in cardiomyocytes regulating the production of the myosin heavy chain during development. It also responds to stress and forms part of a hormonal signalling cascade in cardiac cells.
A preliminary study has shown a potential use in the prognosis of dilated cardiomyopathy. Another application has been suggested as using plasma concentration of miR-208 as a biomarker of damaged cardiac muscle cells.