Research progress of microRNAs involved in hematopoiesis

Hematopoiesis plays an important role(s) in maintenance and physiology of life. Hematopoiesis in vertebrates mainly includes self-renewal of the hematopoietic stem cells, proliferation and differentiation of the hematopoietic progenitor cells, and maturation of the blood cells. The regulation of hematogenesis involves a variety of transcription factors, membrane receptors, hematopoietic growth factors, and microRNAs, which interact with each other and form a variety of signaling pathways and signal networks. MicroRNAs are a class of non-coding RNAs widely distributed in eukaryotic cells and play important roles in the hematopoietic process. The expression of microRNAs is regulated by transcription factors involved in hematopoietic signaling pathways. In turn, their expression can inhibit or down-regulate those of transcription factors involved in hematopoietic related signaling pathways and other related regulatory factors, thereby affecting the signaling pathways related to hematopoiesis and ultimately the hematopoietic process. In this review, we introduce the hematopoiesis processes and related signal pathways in vertebrates, focusing on the relationships between microRNAs and hematopoietic transcription factors and signal pathways, and summarizing the recent research progress of microRNAs in hematopoiesis.