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Schmitz U. Overview of Computational and Experimental Methods to Identify Tissue-Specific MicroRNA Targets. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2630:155-177. [PMID: 36689183 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2982-6_12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
As ubiquitous posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression, microRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in cell physiology and function across taxa. In the last two decades, we have gained a good understanding about miRNA biogenesis pathways, modes of action, and consequences of miRNA-mediated gene regulation. More recently, research has focused on exploring causes for miRNA dysregulation, miRNA-mediated crosstalk between genes and signaling pathways, and the role of miRNAs in disease.This chapter discusses methods for the identification of miRNA-target interactions and causes for tissue-specific miRNA-target regulation. Computational approaches for predicting miRNA target sites and assessing tissue-specific target regulation are discussed. Moreover, there is an emphasis on features that affect miRNA target recognition and how high-throughput sequencing protocols can help in assessing miRNA-mediated gene regulation on a genome-wide scale. In addition, this chapter introduces some experimental approaches for the validation of miRNA targets as well as web-based resources sharing predicted and validated miRNA-target interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulf Schmitz
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, College of Public Health, Medical & Vet Sciences, James Cook University, Douglas, Australia.
- Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia.
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2
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Small RNA Targets: Advances in Prediction Tools and High-Throughput Profiling. BIOLOGY 2022; 11:biology11121798. [PMID: 36552307 PMCID: PMC9775672 DOI: 10.3390/biology11121798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 11/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. They are suggested to be involved in most biological processes of the cell primarily by targeting messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for cleavage or translational repression. Their binding to their target sites is mediated by the Argonaute (AGO) family of proteins. Thus, miRNA target prediction is pivotal for research and clinical applications. Moreover, transfer-RNA-derived fragments (tRFs) and other types of small RNAs have been found to be potent regulators of Ago-mediated gene expression. Their role in mRNA regulation is still to be fully elucidated, and advancements in the computational prediction of their targets are in their infancy. To shed light on these complex RNA-RNA interactions, the availability of good quality high-throughput data and reliable computational methods is of utmost importance. Even though the arsenal of computational approaches in the field has been enriched in the last decade, there is still a degree of discrepancy between the results they yield. This review offers an overview of the relevant advancements in the field of bioinformatics and machine learning and summarizes the key strategies utilized for small RNA target prediction. Furthermore, we report the recent development of high-throughput sequencing technologies, and explore the role of non-miRNA AGO driver sequences.
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3
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Feitosa RM, Prieto-Oliveira P, Brentani H, Machado-Lima A. MicroRNA target prediction tools for animals: Where we are at and where we are going to - A systematic review. Comput Biol Chem 2022; 100:107729. [DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2022.107729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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4
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Shakyawar S, Southekal S, Guda C. mintRULS: Prediction of miRNA–mRNA Target Site Interactions Using Regularized Least Square Method. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13091528. [PMID: 36140696 PMCID: PMC9498445 DOI: 10.3390/genes13091528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Identification of miRNA–mRNA interactions is critical to understand the new paradigms in gene regulation. Existing methods show suboptimal performance owing to inappropriate feature selection and limited integration of intuitive biological features of both miRNAs and mRNAs. The present regularized least square-based method, mintRULS, employs features of miRNAs and their target sites using pairwise similarity metrics based on free energy, sequence and repeat identities, and target site accessibility to predict miRNA-target site interactions. We hypothesized that miRNAs sharing similar structural and functional features are more likely to target the same mRNA, and conversely, mRNAs with similar features can be targeted by the same miRNA. Our prediction model achieved an impressive AUC of 0.93 and 0.92 in LOOCV and LmiTOCV settings, respectively. In comparison, other popular tools such as miRDB, TargetScan, MBSTAR, RPmirDIP, and STarMir scored AUCs at 0.73, 0.77, 0.55, 0.84, and 0.67, respectively, in LOOCV setting. Similarly, mintRULS outperformed other methods using metrics such as accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and MCC. Our method also demonstrated high accuracy when validated against experimentally derived data from condition- and cell-specific studies and expression studies of miRNAs and target genes, both in human and mouse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sushil Shakyawar
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Siddesh Southekal
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Chittibabu Guda
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
- Center for Biomedical Informatics Research and Innovation (CBIRI), University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
- Correspondence:
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5
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Machine Learning Based Methods and Best Practices of microRNA-Target Prediction and Validation. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2022; 1385:109-131. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-08356-3_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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6
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Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding elements that play essential roles in the posttranscriptional regulation of biochemical processes. miRNAs recognize and target multiple mRNAs; therefore, investigating miRNA dysregulation is an indispensable strategy to understand pathological conditions and to design innovative drugs. Targeting miRNAs in diseases improve outcomes of several therapeutic strategies thus, this present study highlights miRNA targeting methods through experimental assays and bioinformatics tools. The first part of this review focuses on experimental miRNA targeting approaches for elucidating key biochemical pathways. A growing body of evidence about the miRNA world reveals the fact that it is not possible to uncover these molecules' structural and functional characteristics related to the biological processes with a deterministic approach. Instead, a systemic point of view is needed to truly understand the facts behind the natural complexity of interactions and regulations that miRNA regulations present. This task heavily depends both on computational and experimental capabilities. Fortunately, several miRNA bioinformatics tools catering to nonexperts are available as complementary wet-lab approaches. For this purpose, this work provides recent research and information about computational tools for miRNA targeting research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hossein Ghanbarian
- Biotechnology Department & Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mehmet Taha Yıldız
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Hamidiye Institute of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences-Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Yusuf Tutar
- Division of Biochemistry, Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hamidiye Faculty of Pharmacy & Division of Molecular Medicine, Hamidiye Institute of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences-Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey.
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7
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Quillet A, Anouar Y, Lecroq T, Dubessy C. Prediction methods for microRNA targets in bilaterian animals: Toward a better understanding by biologists. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2021; 19:5811-5825. [PMID: 34765096 PMCID: PMC8567327 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.10.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. Because of their wide network of interactions, miRNAs have become the focus of many studies over the past decade, particularly in animal species. To streamline the number of potential wet lab experiments, the use of miRNA target prediction tools is currently the first step undertaken. However, the predictions made may vary considerably depending on the tool used, which is mostly due to the complex and still not fully understood mechanism of action of miRNAs. The discrepancies complicate the choice of the tool for miRNA target prediction. To provide a comprehensive view of this issue, we highlight in this review the main characteristics of miRNA-target interactions in bilaterian animals, describe the prediction models currently used, and provide some insights for the evaluation of predictor performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurélien Quillet
- Normandie Université, UNIROUEN, INSERM, Laboratoire Différenciation et Communication Neuronale et Neuroendocrine, 76000 Rouen, France
| | - Youssef Anouar
- Normandie Université, UNIROUEN, INSERM, Laboratoire Différenciation et Communication Neuronale et Neuroendocrine, 76000 Rouen, France
| | - Thierry Lecroq
- Normandie Université, UNIROUEN, UNIHAVRE, INSA Rouen, Laboratoire d'Informatique du Traitement de l'Information et des Systèmes, 76000 Rouen, France
| | - Christophe Dubessy
- Normandie Université, UNIROUEN, INSERM, Laboratoire Différenciation et Communication Neuronale et Neuroendocrine, 76000 Rouen, France.,Normandie Université, UNIROUEN, INSERM, PRIMACEN, 76000 Rouen, France
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8
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Khatun MS, Alam MA, Shoombuatong W, Mollah MNH, Kurata H, Hasan MM. Recent development of bioinformatics tools for microRNA target prediction. Curr Med Chem 2021; 29:865-880. [PMID: 34348604 DOI: 10.2174/0929867328666210804090224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are central players that regulate the post-transcriptional processes of gene expression. Binding of miRNAs to target mRNAs can repress their translation by inducing the degradation or by inhibiting the translation of the target mRNAs. High-throughput experimental approaches for miRNA target identification are costly and time-consuming, depending on various factors. It is vitally important to develop the bioinformatics methods for accurately predicting miRNA targets. With the increase of RNA sequences in the post-genomic era, bioinformatics methods are being developed for miRNA studies specially for miRNA target prediction. This review summarizes the current development of state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools for miRNA target prediction, points out the progress and limitations of the available miRNA databases, and their working principles. Finally, we discuss the caveat and perspectives of the next-generation algorithms for the prediction of miRNA targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mst Shamima Khatun
- Department of Bioscience and Bioinformatics, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 680-4 Kawazu, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8502. Japan
| | - Md Ashad Alam
- Tulane Center for Biomedical Informatics and Genomics, Division of Biomedical Informatics and Genomics, John W. Deming Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112. United States
| | - Watshara Shoombuatong
- Center of Data Mining and Biomedical Informatics, Faculty of Medical Technology, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700. Thailand
| | - Md Nurul Haque Mollah
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Department of Statistics, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. 5Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083. Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Kurata
- Department of Bioscience and Bioinformatics, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 680-4 Kawazu, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8502. Japan
| | - Md Mehedi Hasan
- Department of Bioscience and Bioinformatics, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 680-4 Kawazu, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8502. Japan
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9
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Roth M, Jain P, Koo J, Chaterji S. Simultaneous learning of individual microRNA-gene interactions and regulatory comodules. BMC Bioinformatics 2021; 22:237. [PMID: 33971820 PMCID: PMC8111732 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-021-04151-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by binding to target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Because of the key part that miRNAs play, understanding the correct regulatory role of miRNAs in diverse patho-physiological conditions is of great interest. Although it is known that miRNAs act combinatorially to regulate genes, precise identification of miRNA-gene interactions and their specific functional roles in regulatory comodules remains a challenge. We developed THEIA, an effective method for simultaneously predicting miRNA-gene interactions and regulatory comodules, which group functionally related miRNAs and genes via non-negative matrix factorization (NMF). RESULTS We apply THEIA to RNA sequencing data from breast invasive carcinoma samples and demonstrate its effectiveness in discovering biologically significant regulatory comodules that are significantly enriched in spatial miRNA clusters, biological pathways, and various cancers. CONCLUSIONS THEIA is a theoretically rigorous optimization algorithm that simultaneously predicts the strength and direction (i.e., up-regulation or down-regulation) of the effect of modules of miRNAs on a gene. We posit that if THEIA is capable of recovering known clusters of genes and miRNA, then the clusters found by our method not previously identified by literature are also likely to have biological significance. We believe that these novel regulatory comodules found by our method will be a springboard for further research into the specific functional roles of these new functional ensembles of miRNAs and genes,especially those related to diseases like breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pranjal Jain
- Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
| | | | - Somali Chaterji
- Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
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10
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Mohammadi-Dehcheshmeh M, Moghbeli SM, Rahimirad S, Alanazi IO, Shehri ZSA, Ebrahimie E. A Transcription Regulatory Sequence in the 5' Untranslated Region of SARS-CoV-2 Is Vital for Virus Replication with an Altered Evolutionary Pattern against Human Inhibitory MicroRNAs. Cells 2021; 10:cells10020319. [PMID: 33557205 PMCID: PMC7913991 DOI: 10.3390/cells10020319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Revised: 01/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Our knowledge of the evolution and the role of untranslated region (UTR) in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity is very limited. Leader sequence, originated from UTR, is found at the 5' ends of all encoded SARS-CoV-2 transcripts, highlighting its importance. Here, evolution of leader sequence was compared between human pathogenic and non-pathogenic coronaviruses. Then, profiling of microRNAs that can inactivate the key UTR regions of coronaviruses was carried out. A distinguished pattern of evolution in leader sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was found. Mining all available microRNA families against leader sequences of coronaviruses resulted in discovery of 39 microRNAs with a stable thermodynamic binding energy. Notably, SARS-CoV-2 had a lower binding stability against microRNAs. hsa-MIR-5004-3p was the only human microRNA able to target the leader sequence of SARS and to a lesser extent, also SARS-CoV-2. However, its binding stability decreased remarkably in SARS-COV-2. We found some plant microRNAs with low and stable binding energy against SARS-COV-2. Meta-analysis documented a significant (p < 0.01) decline in the expression of MIR-5004-3p after SARS-COV-2 infection in trachea, lung biopsy, and bronchial organoids as well as lung-derived Calu-3 and A549 cells. The paucity of the innate human inhibitory microRNAs to bind to leader sequence of SARS-CoV-2 can contribute to its high replication in infected human cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manijeh Mohammadi-Dehcheshmeh
- La Trobe Genomics Research Platform, School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia; or
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5371, Australia
| | - Sadrollah Molaei Moghbeli
- Department of Animal Science, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 1675, USA;
| | - Samira Rahimirad
- Department of Medical Genetics, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tehran 1497716316, Iran;
| | - Ibrahim O. Alanazi
- National Center for Biotechnology, Life Science and Environment Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 6086, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Zafer Saad Al Shehri
- Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Shaqra University, KSA, Al dawadmi 1678, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Esmaeil Ebrahimie
- La Trobe Genomics Research Platform, School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia; or
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5371, Australia
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +61-4491-213-57
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11
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The Role of MicroRNA in the Airway Surface Liquid Homeostasis. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21113848. [PMID: 32481719 PMCID: PMC7312818 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21113848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Revised: 05/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Mucociliary clearance, mediated by a coordinated function of cilia bathing in the airway surface liquid (ASL) on the surface of airway epithelium, protects the host from inhaled pathogens and is an essential component of the innate immunity. ASL is composed of the superficial mucus layer and the deeper periciliary liquid. Ion channels, transporters, and pumps coordinate the transcellular and paracellular movement of ions and water to maintain the ASL volume and mucus hydration. microRNA (miRNA) is a class of non-coding, short single-stranded RNA regulating gene expression by post-transcriptional mechanisms. miRNAs have been increasingly recognized as essential regulators of ion channels and transporters responsible for ASL homeostasis. miRNAs also influence the airway host defense. We summarize the most up-to-date information on the role of miRNAs in ASL homeostasis and host-pathogen interactions in the airway and discuss concepts for miRNA-directed therapy.
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12
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Tokar T, Pastrello C, Rossos AEM, Abovsky M, Hauschild AC, Tsay M, Lu R, Jurisica I. mirDIP 4.1-integrative database of human microRNA target predictions. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 46:D360-D370. [PMID: 29194489 PMCID: PMC5753284 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx1144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 356] [Impact Index Per Article: 71.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2017] [Accepted: 10/30/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
MicroRNAs are important regulators of gene expression, achieved by binding to the gene to be regulated. Even with modern high-throughput technologies, it is laborious and expensive to detect all possible microRNA targets. For this reason, several computational microRNA-target prediction tools have been developed, each with its own strengths and limitations. Integration of different tools has been a successful approach to minimize the shortcomings of individual databases. Here, we present mirDIP v4.1, providing nearly 152 million human microRNA-target predictions, which were collected across 30 different resources. We also introduce an integrative score, which was statistically inferred from the obtained predictions, and was assigned to each unique microRNA-target interaction to provide a unified measure of confidence. We demonstrate that integrating predictions across multiple resources does not cumulate prediction bias toward biological processes or pathways. mirDIP v4.1 is freely available at http://ophid.utoronto.ca/mirDIP/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Tokar
- Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada
| | - Chiara Pastrello
- Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada
| | - Andrea E M Rossos
- Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada
| | - Mark Abovsky
- Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada
| | | | - Mike Tsay
- Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada
| | - Richard Lu
- Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada
| | - Igor Jurisica
- Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada.,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7, Canada.,Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G4, Canada.,Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, 845 10, Slovakia
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13
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Gutiérrez DA, Varela-Ramírez A, Rodríguez-Esquivel M, Mendoza-Rodríguez MG, Ayala-Sumuano JT, Pineda D, Garrido-Guerrero E, Jiménez-Vega F, Aguilar S, Quiñones M, Nambo MJ, Chávez-Olmos P, Taniguchi-Ponciano K, Marrero-Rodriguez D, Romero-Morelos P, Castro JP, Bandala C, Carrillo-Romero A, González-Yebra B, Salcedo M. Predicting Human miRNA-like Sequences within Human Papillomavirus Genomes. Arch Med Res 2018; 49:323-334. [PMID: 30401587 DOI: 10.1016/j.arcmed.2018.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study presents a prediction of putative miRNA within several Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types by using bioinformatics tools and a strategy based on sequence and structure alignment. Currently, little is known about HPV miRNAs. METHODS Computational methods have been widely applied in the identification of novel miRNAs when analyzing genome sequences. Here, ten whole-genome sequences from HPV-6, -11, -16, -18, -31, -33, -35, -45, -52, and -58 were analyzed. Software based on local contiguous structure-sequence features and support vector machine (SVM), as well as additional bioinformatics tools, were utilized for identification and classification of real and pseudo microRNA precursors. RESULTS An initial analysis predicted 200 putative pre-miRNAs for all the ten HPV genome variants. To derive a smaller set of pre-miRNAs candidates, stringent validation criteria was conducted by applying <‒10 ΔG value (Gibbs Free Energy). Thus, only pre-miRNAs with total scores above the cut-off points of 90% were considered as putative pre-miRNAs. As a result of this strategy, 19 pre-miRNAs were selected (hpv-pre-miRNAs). These novel pre-miRNAs were located in different clusters within HPV genomes and some of them were positioned at splice regions. Additionally, the 19 identified pre-miRNAs sequences varied between HPV genotypes. Interestingly, the newly identified miRNAs, 297, 27b, 500, 501-5, and 509-3-5p, were closely implicated in carcinogenesis participating in cellular longevity, cell cycle, metastasis, apoptosis evasion, tissue invasion and cellular growth pathways. CONCLUSIONS The novel putative miRNAs candidates could be promising biomarkers of HPV infection and furthermore, could be targeted for potential therapeutic interventions in HPV-induced malignancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denisse A Gutiérrez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México; The Cytometry, Screening and Imaging Core Facility, Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, the University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, USA
| | - Armando Varela-Ramírez
- The Cytometry, Screening and Imaging Core Facility, Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, the University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, USA
| | - Miriam Rodríguez-Esquivel
- Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México; Programa Nanociencias y Micronanotecnologías, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Mónica G Mendoza-Rodríguez
- Unidad de Investigación en Biomedicina, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, México
| | - Jorge T Ayala-Sumuano
- Unidad de Investigación en Biomedicina, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, México
| | - David Pineda
- Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México; Departamento de Genética y Biología Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Efraín Garrido-Guerrero
- Departamento de Genética y Biología Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Florinda Jiménez-Vega
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México
| | - Saúl Aguilar
- Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Miguel Quiñones
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México
| | - María J Nambo
- Servicio de Hematología y Trasplantes de Médula Ósea, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Pedro Chávez-Olmos
- Departamento de Genética y Biología Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Keiko Taniguchi-Ponciano
- Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México; Programa Nanociencias y Micronanotecnologías, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Daniel Marrero-Rodriguez
- Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Pablo Romero-Morelos
- Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México; Programa Nanociencias y Micronanotecnologías, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Joanna P Castro
- Coordinación de Unidades Médicas de Alta Especialidad, Dirección de Prestaciones Médicas, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Cindy Bandala
- División de Neurociencias, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Andrea Carrillo-Romero
- Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Beatriz González-Yebra
- Departamento de Medicina y Nutrición, División de Ciencias de la Salud, León, Guanajuato, México
| | - Mauricio Salcedo
- Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México.
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14
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Ghoshal A, Zhang J, Roth MA, Xia KM, Grama A, Chaterji S. A Distributed Classifier for MicroRNA Target Prediction with Validation Through TCGA Expression Data. IEEE/ACM TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS 2018; 15:1037-1051. [PMID: 29993641 PMCID: PMC6175706 DOI: 10.1109/tcbb.2018.2828305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 22-nucleotide long regulatory RNA that mediate RNA interference by binding to cognate mRNA target regions. Here, we present a distributed kernel SVM-based binary classification scheme to predict miRNA targets. It captures the spatial profile of miRNA-mRNA interactions via smooth B-spline curves. This is accomplished separately for various input features, such as thermodynamic and sequence-based features. Further, we use a principled approach to uniformly model both canonical and non-canonical seed matches, using a novel seed enrichment metric. Finally, we verify our miRNA-mRNA pairings using an Elastic Net-based regression model on TCGA expression data for four cancer types to estimate the miRNAs that together regulate any given mRNA. RESULTS We present a suite of algorithms for miRNA target prediction, under the banner Avishkar, with superior prediction performance over the competition. Specifically, our final kernel SVM model, with an Apache Spark backend, achieves an average true positive rate (TPR) of more than 75 percent, when keeping the false positive rate of 20 percent, for non-canonical human miRNA target sites. This is an improvement of over 150 percent in the TPR for non-canonical sites, over the best-in-class algorithm. We are able to achieve such superior performance by representing the thermodynamic and sequence profiles of miRNA-mRNA interaction as curves, devising a novel seed enrichment metric, and learning an ensemble of miRNA family-specific kernel SVM classifiers. We provide an easy-to-use system for large-scale interactive analysis and prediction of miRNA targets. All operations in our system, namely candidate set generation, feature generation and transformation, training, prediction, and computing performance metrics are fully distributed and are scalable. CONCLUSIONS We have developed an efficient SVM-based model for miRNA target prediction using recent CLIP-seq data, demonstrating superior performance, evaluated using ROC curves for different species (human or mouse), or different target types (canonical or non-canonical). We analyzed the agreement between the target pairings using CLIP-seq data and using expression data from four cancer types. To the best of our knowledge, we provide the first distributed framework for miRNA target prediction based on Apache Hadoop and Spark. AVAILABILITY All source code and sample data are publicly available at https://bitbucket.org/cellsandmachines/avishkar. Our scalable implementation of kernel SVM using Apache Spark, which can be used to solve large-scale non-linear binary classification problems, is available at https://bitbucket.org/cellsandmachines/kernelsvmspark.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asish Ghoshal
- Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
| | - Jinyi Zhang
- Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, New York City, NY.
| | - Michael A. Roth
- Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
| | - Kevin Muyuan Xia
- Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
| | - Ananth Grama
- Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
| | - Somali Chaterji
- Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
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15
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Downregulation of MicroRNA eca-mir-128 in Seminal Exosomes and Enhanced Expression of CXCL16 in the Stallion Reproductive Tract Are Associated with Long-Term Persistence of Equine Arteritis Virus. J Virol 2018; 92:JVI.00015-18. [PMID: 29444949 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00015-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 02/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Equine arteritis virus (EAV) can establish long-term persistent infection in the reproductive tract of stallions and is shed in the semen. Previous studies showed that long-term persistence is associated with a specific allele of the CXCL16 gene (CXCL16S) and that persistent infection is maintained despite the presence of a local inflammatory and humoral and mucosal antibody responses. In this study, we demonstrated that equine seminal exosomes (SEs) are enriched in a small subset of microRNAs (miRNAs). Most importantly, we demonstrated that long-term EAV persistence is associated with the downregulation of an SE-associated miRNA (eca-mir-128) and with an enhanced expression of CXCL16 in the reproductive tract, a putative target of eca-mir-128. The findings presented here suggest that SE eca-mir-128 is implicated in the regulation of the CXCL16/CXCR6 axis in the reproductive tract of persistently infected stallions, a chemokine axis strongly implicated in EAV persistence. This is a novel finding and warrants further investigation to identify its specific mechanism in modulating the CXCL16/CXCR6 axis in the reproductive tract of the EAV long-term carrier stallion.IMPORTANCE Equine arteritis virus (EAV) has the ability to establish long-term persistent infection in the stallion reproductive tract and to be shed in semen, which jeopardizes its worldwide control. Currently, the molecular mechanisms of viral persistence are being unraveled, and these are essential for the development of effective therapeutics to eliminate persistent infection. Recently, it has been determined that long-term persistence is associated with a specific allele of the CXCL16 gene (CXCL16S) and is maintained despite induction of local inflammatory, humoral, and mucosal antibody responses. This study demonstrated that long-term persistence is associated with the downregulation of seminal exosome miRNA eca-mir-128 and enhanced expression of its putative target, CXCL16, in the reproductive tract. For the first time, this study suggests complex interactions between eca-mir-128 and cellular elements at the site of EAV persistence and implicates this miRNA in the regulation of the CXCL16/CXCR6 axis in the reproductive tract during long-term persistence.
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Koo J, Zhang J, Chaterji S. Tiresias: Context-sensitive Approach to Decipher the Presence and Strength of MicroRNA Regulatory Interactions. Theranostics 2018; 8:277-291. [PMID: 29290807 PMCID: PMC5743474 DOI: 10.7150/thno.22065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that regulate expression of target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) post-transcriptionally. Understanding the precise regulatory role of miRNAs is of great interest since miRNAs have been shown to play an important role in development, diseases, and other biological processes. Early work on miRNA target prediction has focused on static sequence-driven miRNA-mRNA complementarity. However, recent research also utilizes expression-level data to study context-dependent regulation effects in a more dynamic, physiologically-relevant setting. Methods: We propose a novel artificial neural network (ANN) based method, named Tiresias, to predict such targets in a context-dependent manner by combining sequence and expression data. In order to predict the interacting pairs among miRNAs and mRNAs and their regulatory weights, we develop a two-stage ANN and present how to train it appropriately. Tiresias is designed to study various regulation models, ranging from a simple linear model to a complex non-linear model. Tiresias has a single hyper-parameter to control the sparsity of miRNA-mRNA interactions, which we optimize using Bayesian optimization. Results: Tiresias performs better than existing computational methods such as GenMiR++, Elastic Net, and PIMiM, achieving an F1 score of >0.8 for a certain level of regulation strength. For the TCGA breast invasive carcinoma dataset, Tiresias results in the rate of up to 82% in detecting the experimentally-validated interactions between miRNAs and mRNAs, even if we assume that true regulations may result in a low level of regulation strength. Conclusion: Tiresias is a two-stage ANN, computational method that deciphers context-dependent microRNA regulatory interactions. Experiment results demonstrate that Tiresias outperforms existing solutions and can achieve a high F1 score. Source code of Tiresias is available at https://bitbucket.org/cellsandmachines/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinkyu Koo
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Jinyi Zhang
- Computer Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Somali Chaterji
- Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
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17
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Chaterji S, Ahn EH, Kim DH. CRISPR Genome Engineering for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research. Theranostics 2017; 7:4445-4469. [PMID: 29158838 PMCID: PMC5695142 DOI: 10.7150/thno.18456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of targeted and efficient genome editing technologies, such as repurposed bacterial programmable nucleases (e.g., CRISPR-Cas systems), has abetted the development of cell engineering approaches. Lessons learned from the development of RNA-interference (RNA-i) therapies can spur the translation of genome editing, such as those enabling the translation of human pluripotent stem cell engineering. In this review, we discuss the opportunities and the challenges of repurposing bacterial nucleases for genome editing, while appreciating their roles, primarily at the epigenomic granularity. First, we discuss the evolution of high-precision, genome editing technologies, highlighting CRISPR-Cas9. They exist in the form of programmable nucleases, engineered with sequence-specific localizing domains, and with the ability to revolutionize human stem cell technologies through precision targeting with greater on-target activities. Next, we highlight the major challenges that need to be met prior to bench-to-bedside translation, often learning from the path-to-clinic of complementary technologies, such as RNA-i. Finally, we suggest potential bioinformatics developments and CRISPR delivery vehicles that can be deployed to circumvent some of the challenges confronting genome editing technologies en route to the clinic.
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18
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Paces J, Nic M, Novotny T, Svoboda P. Literature review of baseline information to support the risk assessment of RNAi‐based GM plants. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [PMCID: PMC7163844 DOI: 10.2903/sp.efsa.2017.en-1246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jan Paces
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IMG)
| | | | | | - Petr Svoboda
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IMG)
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Amirkhah R, Meshkin HN, Farazmand A, Rasko JEJ, Schmitz U. Computational and Experimental Identification of Tissue-Specific MicroRNA Targets. Methods Mol Biol 2017; 1580:127-147. [PMID: 28439832 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6866-4_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
In this chapter we discuss computational methods for the prediction of microRNA (miRNA) targets. More specifically, we consider machine learning-based approaches and explain why these methods have been relatively unsuccessful in reducing the number of false positive predictions. Further we suggest approaches designed to improve their performance by considering tissue-specific target regulation. We argue that the miRNA targetome differs depending on the tissue type and introduce a novel algorithm that predicts miRNA targets specifically for colorectal cancer. We discuss features of miRNAs and target sites that affect target recognition, and how next-generation sequencing data can support the identification of novel miRNAs, differentially expressed miRNAs and their tissue-specific mRNA targets. In addition, we introduce some experimental approaches for the validation of miRNA targets as well as web-based resources sharing predicted and validated miRNA target interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raheleh Amirkhah
- Reza Institute of Cancer Bioinformatics and Personalized Medicine, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Hojjat Naderi Meshkin
- Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Research Group, Academic Center for Education, Culture Research (ACECR), Khorasan Razavi Branch, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Ali Farazmand
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - John E J Rasko
- Gene & Stem Cell Therapy Program, Centenary Institute, Camperdown; Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia
| | - Ulf Schmitz
- Gene & Stem Cell Therapy Program, Centenary Institute, Camperdown; Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
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20
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Teng L, Hong L, Liu R, Chen R, Li X, Yu M. Cellular Localization and Regulation of Expression of the PLET1 Gene in Porcine Placenta. Int J Mol Sci 2016; 17:ijms17122048. [PMID: 27941613 PMCID: PMC5187848 DOI: 10.3390/ijms17122048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2016] [Revised: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The placenta expressed transcript 1 (PLET1) gene, which is expressed in placentas of pigs and mice, has been found to have a potential role in trophoblast cell fate decision in mice. Results of this study showed that the porcine PLET1 mRNA and protein were expressed exclusively in trophoblast cells on Days 15, 26, 50, and 95 of gestation (gestation length in the pig is 114 days), indicating that the PLET1 could be a useful marker for porcine trophoblast cells. Additionally, PLET1 protein was found to be redistributed from cytoplasm to the apical side of trophoblast cells as gestation progresses, which suggests a role of PLET1 in the establishment of a stable trophoblast and endometrial epithelial layers. In addition, two transcripts that differ in the 3′ UTR length but encode identical protein were identified to be generated by the alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (APA), and the expression of PLET1-L transcript was significantly upregulated in porcine placentas as gestation progresses. Furthermore, we demonstrated the interaction between the miR-365-3p and PLET1 gene using luciferase assay system. Our findings imply an important role of PLET1 in the placental development in pigs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liu Teng
- Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education and the Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
| | - Linjun Hong
- Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education and the Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
| | - Ruize Liu
- Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education and the Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
| | - Ran Chen
- Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education and the Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
| | - Xinyun Li
- Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education and the Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
| | - Mei Yu
- Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education and the Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
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21
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Ghoshal A, Shankar R, Bagchi S, Grama A, Chaterji S. Erratum to: ‘MicroRNA target prediction using thermodynamic and sequence curves’. BMC Genomics 2016; 17:216. [PMID: 26960331 PMCID: PMC4784320 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-2367-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2016] [Accepted: 01/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
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