It is one of the most widely distributed microRNAs in animals, it has been identified in numerous species including human, dog, cat, horse, cow, guinea pig, mouse, rat, common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), northern greater galago (Otolemur garnettii), gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica), northern treeshrew (Tupaia belangeri), European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), lesser hedgehog tenrec (Echinops telfairi), zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), chicken, platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), Western clawed frog (Xenopus tropicalis), Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis), zebrafish (Danio rerio), Japanese pufferfish (Fugu rubripes), green spotted pufferfish (Tetraodon nigroviridis), Japanese killifish (Oryzias latipes), three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), Florida lancelet (Branchiostoma floridae), California purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), 12 different species of fruit fly (Drosophila), Western honey bee (Apis mellifera), mosquito (Anopheles gambiae), red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum), the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, owl limpet (Lottia gigantea), starlet sea anemone (Nematostella vectensis) and the blood fluke Schistosoma japonicum.

A fourth miR-10 gene (mir-10d) is found elsewhere in the genome, at a location homologous to the pufferfish HoxDd cluster.

miR10 reappears by stage 11 (320–440 minutes post-fertilisation), where it is found in the ventral nerve cord, posterior midgut and hindgut.

[18] In Drosophila larvae, miR-10-3p is found in the imaginal discs (groups of cells which are destined to become adult structures upon metamorphosis).

Highest levels are found in the posterior trunk of the embryo, surrounding the hindlimb buds.

In zebrafish embryos, miR-10 binds to sites in the three prime untranslated region (3'UTR) of the HoxB1a and HoxB3a genes, which are important in anterior-posterior patterning during embryonic development.

[21][22] Control of the Hox genes by miR-10 suggests that this microRNA may play an important role in development.

[25][26] miR-10a binds to the five prime untranslated region (5'UTR) of mRNAs encoding ribosomal proteins, and increases their translation.

It binds immediately downstream of the 5' oligopyrimidine tract (5'TOP) motif, a region important in the regulation of ribosomal protein synthesis.

Increased levels of miR-10a have been found in glioblastoma, anaplastic astrocytomas, primary hepatocellular carcinomas and colon cancer.

Binding of Twist to this promoter region induces miR-10b expression, leading to a reduced translation of the tumour suppressor HOXD10.

[20][33] Boston, Massachusetts-based Transcode Therapeutics is developing drugs to target Mir-10b, which the company regards as "a master regulator of metastatic disease".

[34] Preclinical trials in a murine model of metastatic breast cancer found that one of their drugs candidates, MN-anti-miR10b (now known as TTX-MC138), combined with low-dose doxorubicin, resulted in a complete elimination of distant metastases in 65% of the rodents and a significant decrease in mortality.

The company believes the drug, and others with similar mechanisms, could dramatically increase survival rates for people with metastatic tumors.