A cell-based probabilistic approach unveils the concerted action of miRNAs.

ABSTRACT: Mature microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate most human genes through direct base-pairing with mRNAs. We investigate the underlying principles of miRNA regulation in living cells. To this end, we overexpressed miRNAs in different cell types and measured the mRNA decay rate under a paradigm of a transcriptional arrest. Based on an exhaustive matrix of mRNA-miRNA binding probabilities, and parameters extracted from our experiments, we developed a computational framework that captures the cooperative action of miRNAs in living cells. The framework, called COMICS, simulates the stochastic binding events between miRNAs and mRNAs in cells. The input of COMICS is cell-specific profiles of mRNAs and miRNAs, and the outcome is the retention level of each mRNA at the end of 100,000 iterations. The results of

SUBMITTER: Mahlab-Aviv S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6922470 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature