Dicer

Dicer is a type of Ribonuclease that processes potentially harmful double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) into microRNA and small-interfering RNA (siRNA) to be used in the process of RNA interference. Dicer is commonly utilized by cells in order to prevent the assimilation of viral DNA into the cells’ genome. The viral DNA is butchered into smaller segments that are each about 21 nucleotides long; the cut take places at the 5’ phosphate and the 3’ hydroxyl, and usually includes a 2 nucleotide overhang. These newly formed segments attach themselves to single stranded mRNA which ultimately leads to mRNA degradation by the cell and translational suppression. Dicer is a tool used by cells as a defense mechanism.

Structure

Human Dicer (hDicer) is a . Each chain is a large multidomain enzyme whose C-terminal half includes a PAZ domain, a pair of tandem RNase III domains, and a double-stranded RNA-binding domain.