Post-transcriptional regulation of the myocardin-related coactivators during muscle cell differentiation

The development and differentiation of muscle cells is a tightly regulated process including several signaling pathways, transcription factors and post-transcriptional processes. The MRTF family of transcription factors are coactivators of Serum Response Factor (SRF) and control several muscle-specific genes, including skeletal muscle alpha-actin (acta1; SMA), smooth muscle alpha-actin (acta2; SkMA), myosin heavy chain and SM22. However, the regulation of MRTF expression itself and the details of the MRTF-dependent muscle differentiation are unknown.

Within this project we aim to investigate which miRNAs in muscle cells bind and suppress the mRNA of MRTF-A and how they modulate muscle cell differentiation and behavior. The miRNAs found will be analyzed by altering their expression level and monitoring the effects on MRTF-A expression and activity. We expect to gain new insights into muscle differentiation and how a miRNA-MRTF circuit is involved.