Mir-15 microRNA precursor family
Encyclopedia
The miR-15 microRNA precursor family are small non-coding RNA
genes that regulate gene expression
. The family includes the related mir-15a and mir-15b sequences. In humans miR-15a and miR-16 are clustered within 0.5 kilobases at 13q14
. This region has been shown to be deleted in more than half of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemias (CLL). Both miR-15a and miR-16 are deleted or down-regulated in more than two thirds of CLL cases. The mature sequence is excised from the 5' arm of the hairpin. In mouse lymphoid development, the miR-15 family has been implicated in turning down cell cycle by down-regulation of check-point genes.
Non-coding RNA
A non-coding RNA is a functional RNA molecule that is not translated into a protein. Less-frequently used synonyms are non-protein-coding RNA , non-messenger RNA and functional RNA . The term small RNA is often used for short bacterial ncRNAs...
genes that regulate gene expression
Gene expression
Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product. These products are often proteins, but in non-protein coding genes such as ribosomal RNA , transfer RNA or small nuclear RNA genes, the product is a functional RNA...
. The family includes the related mir-15a and mir-15b sequences. In humans miR-15a and miR-16 are clustered within 0.5 kilobases at 13q14
Chromosome 13 (human)
Chromosome 13 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome. Chromosome 13 spans about 114 million base pairs and represents between 3.5 and 4 % of the total DNA in cells....
. This region has been shown to be deleted in more than half of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemias (CLL). Both miR-15a and miR-16 are deleted or down-regulated in more than two thirds of CLL cases. The mature sequence is excised from the 5' arm of the hairpin. In mouse lymphoid development, the miR-15 family has been implicated in turning down cell cycle by down-regulation of check-point genes.