MicroRNA Target Identification: Revisiting Accessibility and Seed Anchoring.

ABSTRACT: By pairing to messenger RNAs (mRNAs for short), microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression in animals and plants. Accurately identifying which mRNAs interact with a given miRNA and the precise location of the interaction sites is crucial to reaching a more complete view of the regulatory network of an organism. Only a few experimental approaches, however, allow the identification of both within a single experiment. Computational predictions of miRNA-mRNA interactions thus remain generally the first step used, despite their drawback of a high rate of false-positive predictions. The major computational approaches available rely on a diversity of features, among which anchoring the miRNA seed and measuring mRNA accessibility are the key ones, with the first being universally used, while the

SUBMITTER: Homberg N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10048102 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature