Explore the vast range of titles available.

Peer review is the driving force of journal development, and reviewers are gatekeepers who ensure that Membranes maintains its standards for the high quality of its published papers. Thanks to the cooperation of our reviewers, in 2020, the median time to first decision was 12 days and the median time to publication was 31 days. Abatangelo, Giovanni Lee, Kuo Hao Abbrent, Sabina Lee, Pyung Soo Abdala, Ahmed Lee, Sungyun Abdel-Fattah, Essam Lehocký, Marián Abdellatif, Abdelmohsan Lei, Weiwei Abd-Elnaiem, Alaa Lenik, Joanna Abejón, Ricardo Li, Chengyong Abraham, Nader Li, Hui Abuin, Graciela Li, Jianxin Achiou, Brahim Li, Junsheng Adomavičiūtė, Erika Li, Lu Hua Afsari, Morteza Li, Shiben Agarkov, Dmitrii Li, Wanbin Ahmad, Mohd Zamidi Li, Yuanchao Airenne, Tomi T. Li, Zhipeng Akhtar, Sultan Li, Zidong Alaimo, Alessandro Liang, Shuang Alayande, Abayomi Babatunde Lillepärg, Jelena Albo, Jonathan Lin, Haiqing Alcoutlabi, Mataz Lin, Hongjun Alexovič, Michal Lin, Shuo Ali, Aamer Lin, Weifeng Ali, Gomaa Lin, Weiyun Alique, David Lin, Xubo ALjlil, Saad A. Linares, Jose Alkasrawi, Malek Ling, Zheng Allegretti, Chiara Lipińska, Andrea Amissah, Felix Lipnizki, Frank Amr, Abd El-Galil E. Lipscomb, Glenn An, Chunjiang Liu, Baijun Andersson, Jakob Liu, Bo Ang, Micah Belle Marie Yap Liu, Dongxia Annesini, Maria Cristina Liu, Gongping Anokhina, Tatiana S. Liu, Guicai Ansari, Mohamed Adam Liu, Hua-Min Antunes, Joana C. Liu, Huolong Apollo, Nicholas Liu, Junyi Appetecchi, Giovanni Battista Liu, Minghua Arnusch, Christopher J. Liu, Pengqing Artini, Cristina Liu, Shaomin Arunkumar, Abhiram Liu, Shyh-Jiun Arvanitis, Antonios Liu, Xianhu Ashrafi, Amirmansoor Liu, Yang Asif, Muhammad Bilal Liu, Yong Attia, Mohamed F. Lobo, Anderson Attri, Pankaj Long, Rui Awayda, Mouhamed López, Julio Ayyavoo, Jayalakshmi Loulergue, Patrick Azhar, Muhammad Rizwan Low, Nicholas Bacchin, Patrice Lu, Peng Bae, Byung-Chan Lu, Wei Bagnato, Giuseppe Lundin, Sean-Thomas B. Bagolini, Alvise Lunguleasa, Aurel Bai, Hongwei Luo, Fabao Baig, Umair Luo, Tao Bakandritsos, Aristides Ma, Hongjuan Baldanzi, Gianluca Ma, Jiangya Balme, Sébastien Ma, Tianji Ban, Yujie Ma, Xiaoli Banat, Fawzi Macedo, Antónia Bandini, Serena Macedonio, Francesca Bao, Yongming Magalhães, Leandro Barelli, Hélène Magnacca, Giuliana Barloková, Danka Magnico, Pierre Baschetti, Marco Giacinti Makisha, Nikolay Baschir, Laurentiu Małolepszy, Artur Bassin, Joao Paulo Mancini, Marco Bassyouni, Mohamed Marchetti, Laura Bayer, Ilker Maréchal, Manuel Bazhenov, Stepan D. Mareev, Semyon Bazzarelli, Fabio Marquês, Joaquim Manuel Trigo Becker, Maik Martí-Calatayud, Manuel César Beckingham, Bryan Martínez Rodrigo, Javier Bekiari, Vlasoula Masoudi Soltani, Salman Bellanger, Gilbert Matějka, Milan Belosludtsev, Konstantin Mateus, Marília Belousov, Valery V. Matharu, Rupy Kaur Bento, Fatima Matko, Vojko Bermeshev, Maxim Matsumoto, Michiaki Bernroider, Gustav Matsuura, Takeshi Bernuy-Lopez, Carlos Mayyahi, Ahmed Al Bi, Lei Mažeikienė, Aušra Biçer, Yusuf Mazinani, Saeed Bildyukevich, Alexandr Mazor, Ohad Bin Darwish, Nawaf Mazurkiewicz-Pawlicka, Marta Blandin, Gaetan Mazzei, Rosalinda Bobacka, Johan Mazziotti Di Celso, Giuseppe Bocharov, Eduard V. Melin, Frederic Bogacki, Jan Melnikov, Stanislav Bohinc, Klemen Meng, Fanbin Bolotov, Leonid Meng, Shujuan Borisov, Ilya Meng, Xiangchao Bostyn, Stéphane Mihai, Mara Bôta, Attila Mikhelson, Konstantin Bounaceur, Roda Miller, Daniel N. Bramini, Mattia Minakshi, Manickam Braun, Ralf Minamiki, Tsukuru Breite, Daniel Miranda, Adelaide Brown, Rhoderick E. Miranda, João Mário Bruno, Nicholas C. Mitkowski, Piotr Bruno, Rosaria Mizsey, Peter Bryjak, Marek Moghaddam, Saeed Buchoux, Sebastien Molina, Serena Bulgariu, Laura Molnar, Oleksandr Busana, Mattia Mondal, Sayan Butylskii, Dmitrii Monjezi, Alireza Abbassi Cabrales, Luis Monnot, Mathias Calabrò, Francesco Monteiro, Bernardo Calafel, Itxaso Montoro, Carmen Calvo, José Ignacio Morozan, Adina Cama, Jehangir Morozova, Sofia Cametti, Cesare Moteki, Takahiko Cannon, Richard Mousa, Hamouda Cao, Bing Moutloali, Richard Cao, Bo Mozo, Juan Danie Cao, Liuyue Mukherjee, Maitreyee Carmela, Conidi Mukhopadhyay, Kausik Carraro, Mauro Mullaliu, Angelo Carreon, Moises Müller, Rüdiger Casado-Coterillo, Clara Murmura, Federica Cassano, Alfredo Murmura, Maria Anna Castro-Dominguez, Bernardo Murphy, Eoin G. Cavallaro, Giuseppe Muschiol, Jan Cavayas, Yiorgos Alexandros Muthumareeswaran, M.R. Cecconet, Daniele Nabil, Bouazizi Cevik, Emre Nagamine, Kuniaki Chae, Sung Ho Nagarkar, Amit A. Chakraborty, Sudip Nagul, Edward A. Chamberland, Julien Nagy, Endre Chang, Hsuan Nagy, Miklós Charfi, Amine Nair, Vaishakh Chen, George Nakahara, Hiromichi Chen, Yi-Chun Nakielski, Pawel Chen, Yih-Sharng Nam, Sang Yong Chen, Zhitong Nasir, Rizwan Cheong, Heesun Nastase, Florin Chew, Nick Guan Pin Natale, Paolo Chew, Thiam Leng Naumowicz, Monika Chiao, Yu-Hsuan Nechifor, Gheorghe Cho, Kangwoo Nędzarek, Arkadiusz Cho, Younghyun Nemestóthy, Nándor Choi, Jane Ru Nesterkina, Mariia Choi, Yong Jun Neuman, Manuela Chu, Xiangping Nevárez-Moorillón, Guadalupe Virginia Chuah, Chong Yang Nicoletta, Fiore Pasquale Chung, Neal Tai-Shung Nikolaeva, Daria Chung, Sheng-Heng Nishihara, Masamichi Chwojnowski, Andrzej Nogueira, António Ciura, Krzesimir Nomura, Mikihiro Clematis, Davide Ntougias, Spyridon Clodt, Juliana Isabel Nuez, Ignacio Coduri, Mauro Nunna, Bharath Babu Colli, Alejandro Nicolás Nyamutswa, Lavern T. Cortina, Jose Luis Ochoa, Nelio Ariel Costa, Ana Oh, Hee Jeung Costa, Carlos Miguel Oh, Hyun-Suk Cowan, Matthew Greig Oh, Jonghyun Crespo, João Ohya, Yoshikazu Cretin, Marc Okamoto, Yoshiyuki Crick, Colin R. Oliva, Rosario Cruz-Alcalde, Alberto Oren, Yoram Csanádi, József Orfi, Jamel Cuccovia, Iolanda Midea Oron, Gideon Cui, Zhaoliang Orooji, Yasin Czernel, Grzegorz Ortiz Martínez, Víctor Manuel Czogalla, Aleksander Ortiz-Medina, Josue Darling, Seth B. Oumi, Yasunori Daumer, Marie Line Ovalle-Encinia, Oscar David, Oana Pacheco Tanaka, David Alfredo De Angelis, Maria Grazia Pacheco, Federico De Filpo, Giovanni Padil, Vinod V. T. De Meijer, Mari Padilla-Benavides, Teresita De Oliveira Lobo, Anderson Paganin, Valdecir Antonio De Vos, Wiebe M. Paglieri, Stephen De Vries, Adrianus J. Pal, Animesh Deimede, Valadoula Palacio, Laura Dema, Roman Palumbo, Oriele Deng, Huining Panepinto, Deborah Deng, Shihai Panglisch, Stefan Derbal, Kerroum Pani, Marcella Derbeli, Mohamed Paolone, Annalisa Deshpande, Gauravi Papadakis, Raffaello Di Bella, Gaetano Park, Jin Yong Di Profio, Gianluca Park, Jin-Soo Diddens, Diddo Park, Taehyun Diederichsen, Kyle Parnian, Mohammad Javad Ding, Bin Parrino, Francesco Ding, Yifu Pasquini, Luca Dinu, Maria Valentina Patel, Rajkumar Ditl, Pavel Patrauchan, Marianna A. Dmitrenko, Mariia E. Patsios, Sotiris Do, Jing-Shan Pawlowski, Sylwin Dobrzynski, Piotr Pedersen-Bjergaard, Stig Dodero, Andrea Peer, Petra Dołowy, Krzysztof Peng, Hao Dong, Dengpan Peng, Xueyuan Dong, Liangliang Peng, Yong Dong, Weibing Peng, Yuan Dong, Xianping Pergher, Sibele Dong, Xuecheng Pernyeszi, Tímea Dong, Yingchao Peters, Thijs Donzelli, Elisabetta Petriev, Iliya Dos Reis, Rodrigo Azevedo Pham, Chuyen Van Doutch, James Piotr, Szczepanski Dudek, Gabriela Pirzada, Tahira Dulova, Niina Pisk, Jana Dumee, Ludovic Pismenskaya, Natalia Duskey, Jason Thomas Plisko, Tatiana V. Dutta, Ravi Chandra Poerio, Teresa Ebrahimi, Mehrdad Polańczyk, Andrzej Edomwonyi-Otu, Lawrence C Ponomarev, Igor I. Eigenberger, Gerhart Popovic, Svetlana Einkauf, Jeffrey D. Post, Jan Ekielski, Adam Pouliot, Yves Ekwemalor, Kingsley Pradanos, Pedro Eliseeva, Tatiana Prasad, Vikram El-Naas, Muftah H. Prieto, Manuel Elsaid, Khaled Prisic, Sladjana ElSherbiny, Ibrahim M.A. Pruncu, Catalin I. Emeline, Perrier-Groult Pulyalina, Alexandra Esche, Erik Puszkiel, Julián Escorihuela, Jorge Qanud, Khaled Esmaili, Mansoore Qasim, Muhammad Espíndola, Jonathan Cawettiere Qiang, Yuhao Esposito, Elisa Qin, Kairong Estay, Humberto Qin, Yu Evangelopoulos, Michael Raceanu, Mircea Ewers, Helge Radu, Aleksandar Fan, Hongwei Rafiq, Sikander Fan, Senqing Rahimpour, Mohammad Reza Farshchi Yazdi, Seyed Amir Fouad Rajca, Mariola Fatyeyeva, Kateryna Ramadoss, Ananthakumar Faustino, Vera Rambabu, Gutru Feng, Hongbo Rao, Sanjeev Feng, Qicheng Rätzke, Klaus Feng, Shilun Reinosa, Julián Jiménez Fievet, Patrick Reis, Cristiano Fijałkowski, Karol Reis, Miria Hespanhol Miranda Filippov, Anatoly Restivo, João Fimbres Weihs, Gustavo Rider, Andrew N. Finke, Jan Henrik Rincón, Marina E. Fiorenza, Roberto Robert, Philippe A. Firpo, Giuseppe Rodrigues Reis, Cristiano E. Fischer, Kristina Rodriguez De San Miguel, Eduardo Flanagan, Ted Ronen, Avner Fologea, Daniel Rosenberger, Sandra Fontalvo, Javier Roubík, Hynek Fontananova, Enrica Roy, Sagar Foti, Claudia Ruan, Xuehua Fraguas-Sánchez, Ana Isabel Ruiz-García, Alejandro Francesco, Galiano Ruthstein, Sharon Franco, Camilo Andres Rybak, Aleksandra Fryczkowska, Beata Saakes, Michel Fu, Ziao Sachdeva, Ir. Sumit Funato, Yosuke Sadmani, A.H.M. Anwar Fuoco, Alessio Saeki, Daisuke Gaber, Timo Sahoo, Sanjubala Galateanu, Bianca Samal, Sangram Gan, Shiyu Samhaber, Wolfgang M. Gao, Chunmei Samsudin, Asep Muhamad Gao, Yanzi Sánchez Navarro, Amparo Garab, Győző Sankarasubramanian, Shrihari Garcia, Andreina Santhoshkumar, Puttur Garcia-Bernabé, Abel Santoro, Sergio Gareev, Kamil Santos Juanes-Jorda, Lucas Gascooke, Jason Santos, Rafael M. Gazdzicki, Pawel San-Valero, Pau Geffroy, Pierre-Marie Sanyal, Oishi Geisler, Ramsia Sapalidis, Andreas Genduso, Giuseppe Savić, Jelena Georgieva, Radostina Sawamura, Kentaro-ichi Georgopanos, Prokopios Scarazzato, Tatiana Ghalei, Behnam Scheepers, Fabian Ghica, Mihaela Violeta Schiraldi, Chiara Ghiorghita, Claudiu Augustin Schirhagl, Romana Ghoshal, Shraboni Schneck, Emanuel Giannotti, Marina Inés Schuster, Bernhard Gierszewska, Magdalena Schwantes, Rebecca Giuffre, Ottavia Seçkin, Turgay Gizdavic-Nikolaidis, Marija Seddighi, Sadegh Glasmacher, Birgit Semino, Rocio Glowinska, Ewa Se

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules with important roles in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. In recent years, the predicted number of miRNAs has skyrocketed, largely as a consequence of high-throughput sequencing technologies becoming ubiquitous. This dramatic increase in miRNA candidates poses multiple challenges in terms of data deposition, curation, and validation. Although multiple databases containing miRNA annotations and targets have been developed, ensuring data quality by validating miRNA-target interactions requires the efforts of the research community. In order to generate databases containing biologically active miRNAs, it is imperative to overcome a multitude of hurdles, including restricted miRNA expression patterns, distinct miRNA biogenesis machineries, and divergent miRNA-mRNA interaction dynamics. In the present review, we discuss recent advances and limitations in miRNA prediction, identification, and validation. Lastly, we focus on the most enriched neuronal miRNA, miR-124, and its gene regulatory network in human neurons, which has been revealed using a combined computational and experimental approach.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous small noncoding RNAs that participate in a majority of biological processes via regulating target gene expression. The post-transcriptional repression through miRNA seed region binding to 3′ UTR of target mRNA is considered as the canonical mode of miRNA-mediated gene regulation. However, emerging evidence suggests that other regulatory modes exist beyond the canonical mechanism. In particular, the function of intranuclear miRNA in gene transcriptional regulation is gradually revealed, with evidence showing their contribution to gene silencing or activating. Therefore, miRNA-mediated regulation of gene transcription not only expands our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying miRNA regulatory function, but also provides new evidence to explain its ability in the sophisticated regulation of many bioprocesses. In this review, mechanisms of miRNA-mediated gene transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation are summarized, and the synergistic effects among these actions which form a regulatory network of a miRNA on its target are particularly elaborated. With these discussions, we aim to emphasize the importance of miRNA regulatory network on target gene regulation and further highlight the potential application of the network mode in the achievement of a more effective and stable modulation of the target gene expression.

The editorial team greatly appreciates the reviewers who have dedicated their considerable time and expertise to the journal’s rigorous editorial process over the past 12 months, regardless of whether the papers are finally published or not [...]

In plants and animals, the microRNA (miRNA) class of small regulatory RNA plays an essential role in controlling gene expression in all aspects of development, to respond to environmental stress, or to defend against pathogen attack. This well-established master regulatory role for miRNAs has led to each protein-mediated step of both the plant and animal miRNA pathways being thoroughly characterized. Furthermore, this degree of characterization has led to the development of a suite of miRNA-based technologies for gene expression manipulation for fundamental research or for use in industrial or medical applications. In direct contrast, molecular research on the miRNA pathway of macroalgae, specifically seaweeds (marine macroalgae), remains in its infancy. However, the molecular research conducted to date on the seaweed miRNA pathway has shown that it shares functional features specific to either the plant or animal miRNA pathway. In addition, of the small number of seaweed species where miRNA data is available, little sequence conservation of individual miRNAs exists. These preliminary findings show the pressing need for substantive research into the seaweed miRNA pathway to advance our current understanding of this essential gene expression regulatory process. Such research will also generate the knowledge required to develop novel miRNA-based technologies for use in seaweeds. In this review, we compare and contrast the seaweed miRNA pathway to those well-characterized pathways of plants and animals and outline the low degree of miRNA sequence conservation across the polyphyletic group known as the seaweeds.

A better way to identify miRNA target sites.