fig2

Figure 2. miRNA biogenesis and release. miRNAs are transcribed in the nucleus by RNA pol II into pri-miRNA, which is processed by Drosha into precursor RNA (pre-miRNA) and exported to the cytoplasm where it is processed into mature miRNA and loaded into the miRNA-inducing silencing complex, which is responsible of the production of functional miRNAs. Mature miRNAs can be released in the biological fluids embedded into vesicles (microvesiscles and exosomes) or bound to AGO2 or HDL. MV: microvesicle; miRNA: microRNA; HDL: high density lipoprotein; AGO2: argonaute protein 2