Landscape of microRNA and target expression variation and covariation in single mouse embryonic stem cells.

ABSTRACT: microRNAs are small RNA molecules that can repress the expression of protein-coding genes post-transcriptionally. Previous studies have shown that microRNAs can also have alternative functions, including influencing target expression variation and covariation, but these observations have been limited to a few microRNAs. Here we systematically study microRNA alternative functions in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) by genetically deleting Drosha, leading to global loss of microRNAs. We apply complementary single-cell RNA-seq methods to study the variation of the targets and the microRNAs themselves, and transcriptional inhibition to measure target half-lives. We find that microRNAs form four distinct coexpression groups across single cells. In particular, the mir-290 and the

SUBMITTER: Tarbier M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12863184 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature