Functionally, slight perturbations to the levels of mature miR-17∼92-derived miRNAs can have profound biological consequences; knock-in mice engineered to produce twice as much miR-17∼92-derived miRNAs as wildtype mice suffer lymphoproliferative phenotypes, autoimmunity and a shortened life-span linked to the loss of the PTEN tumor suppressor and the pro-apoptotic factor Bim, which are both validated targets of miR-17∼92[30]. Here, PTEN is linked to Autoimmunity.