Roles of MiR-302/367 in the Reprogramming Somatic Cells into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

MiR-302 /367,found in 2003,were a class of miRNAs with a length of 21 ~ 22 nt,act importantly in self-renewal and multiple differentiation potential maintaine in pluripotent stem cells,also play an important role in somatic cell reprogramming. Each miRNA of miR-302 /367 owns a relative conserve seed region,mainly through inhibiting target gene translation to promote mesenchymal-epithelial transition( MET),inhibiting cell cycle,regulating differentiation associated genes' expression and epigenetic modification, finally acts well in somatic cell reprogramming. This paper reviews the discovery,structure of miR-302 /367,their association with pluripotency and roles in somatic cell reprogramming and uncovers the molecular mechanism during the process.