Human Dicer can process long double-stranded RNA and hairpin precursor RNA to yield short interfering RNAs or microRNAs, respectively. EM and single-particle analyses of Dicer–substrate complexes now provide insight into the structural basis of Dicer's substrate preference, implicating RNA structure and cofactors in determining substrate recognition and processing efficiency by Dicer.
- David W Taylor
- Enbo Ma
- Hong-Wei Wang