| First Author | Yi R | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Nature | Volume | 452 |
| Issue | 7184 | Pages | 225-9 |
| PubMed ID | 18311128 | Mgi Jnum | J:170443 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4946489 | Doi | 10.1038/nature06642 |
| Citation | Yi R, et al. (2008) A skin microRNA promotes differentiation by repressing 'stemness'. Nature 452(7184):225-9 |
| abstractText | In stratified epithelial tissues, homeostasis relies on the self-renewing capacity of stem cells located within the innermost basal layer. As basal cells become suprabasal, they lose proliferative potential and embark on a terminal differentiation programme. Here, we show that microRNA-203 is induced in the skin concomitantly with stratification and differentiation. By altering miR-203's spatiotemporal expression in vivo, we show that miR-203 promotes epidermal differentiation by restricting proliferative potential and inducing cell-cycle exit. We identify p63 as one of the conserved targets of miR-203 across vertebrates. Notably, p63 is an essential regulator of stem-cell maintenance in stratified epithelial tissues. We show that miR-203 directly represses the expression of p63: it fails to switch off suprabasally when either Dicer1 or miR-203 is absent and it becomes repressed basally when miR-203 is prematurely expressed. Our findings suggest that miR-203 defines a molecular boundary between proliferative basal progenitors and terminally differentiating suprabasal cells, ensuring proper identity of neighbouring layers. |
