Guru Raghavendra Gogineni

MicroRNAs, commonly known as miRNAs, are short-stranded non-coding RNA sequences that are of extreme importance in the regulation of gene expression since they are involved in the stability and the translational efficiency of the mRNAs. MiRNAs were almost exclusively studied in relation to their target mRNA molecules, however recently some studies imply that miRNAs may have an ability to control the position of tRNA relative to the mRNA providing another layer of regulation to various functioning processes in a cell such as protein production synthesis, stress, and diseases. In this paper, we consequently shed light on the contribution of miRNAs on tRNA and mRNA interface translation as in ensuring the accuracy and efficiency of translation. For a long time, this duo of tRNA – an adapter RNA, that carries amino acids, and mRNA – the RNA that is encoded with the code, was considered as two distinct components. But it is coming into light that miRNA’s help these two types of RNA to communicate. This is achieved through the ability of miRNAs to recognize perfectly matched regions in both mRNA and tRNA allowing them to control the supply and activity of the equipment needed for translation and consequently the level of proteins produced within the cellular environment. In this article, we focus on the molecular mechanisms of interaction mediated by miRNAs, including regulation of tRNA modifications and ribosome dynamics, and where possible, their biological and pathological significance, including stress response, metabolic processes, diseases like cancer and neurodegeneration. tRNA, mRNA and miRNA do not exist in isolation; miRNAs are integral to RNA interactions within a cell, reiterating the functional significance of miRNAs. By resolving these intricate webs of interactions, one is able to appreciate the cellular processes that have to do with eukaryotic cell regulation and disease processes that are associated with erratic behaviour of RNA.