Computational prediction and experimental validation of evolutionarily conserved microRNA target genes in bilaterian animals.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In many eukaryotes, microRNAs (miRNAs) bind to complementary sites in the 3'-untranslated regions (3'-UTRs) of target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and regulate their expression at the stage of translation. Recent studies have revealed that many miRNAs are evolutionarily conserved; however, the evolution of their target genes has yet to be systematically characterized. We sought to elucidate a set of conserved miRNA/target-gene pairs and to analyse the mechanism underlying miRNA-mediated gene regulation in the early stage of bilaterian evolution.

Results

Initially, we extracted five evolutionarily conserved miRNAs (let-7, miR-1, miR-124, miR-125/lin-4, and miR-34) among five diverse bilaterian animals. Subsequently, we designed a procedure to predict evolutionarily conse

SUBMITTER: Takane K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2833159 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature