Gating of miRNA movement at defined cell-cell interfaces governs their impact as positional signals

Damianos S. Skopelitis, Kristine Hill, Simon Klesen, Cristina F. Marco, Patrick Born, Daniel H. Chitwood and Marja C. P. Timmermans ()
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Damianos S. Skopelitis: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Kristine Hill: University of Tübingen
Simon Klesen: University of Tübingen
Cristina F. Marco: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Patrick Born: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Daniel H. Chitwood: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Marja C. P. Timmermans: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Mobile small RNAs serve as local positional signals in development and coordinate stress responses across the plant. Despite its central importance, an understanding of how the cell-to-cell movement of small RNAs is governed is lacking. Here, we show that miRNA mobility is precisely regulated through a gating mechanism polarised at defined cell–cell interfaces. This generates directional movement between neighbouring cells that limits long-distance shoot-to-root trafficking, and underpins domain-autonomous behaviours of small RNAs within stem cell niches. We further show that the gating of miRNA mobility occurs independent of mechanisms controlling protein movement, identifying the small RNA as the mobile unit. These findings reveal gate-keepers of cell-to-cell small RNA mobility generate selectivity in long-distance signalling, and help safeguard functional domains within dynamic stem cell niches while mitigating a ‘signalling gridlock’ in contexts where developmental patterning events occur in close spatial and temporal vicinity.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05571-0

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