玉米microRNAs及其靶基因的生物信息学预测

microRNAs (miRNAs) 是一类非编码的小分子RNA, 通过碱基互补调控靶基因的表达。鉴定和发现新的miRNAs及其靶基因, 对揭示miRNAs在基因表达调控中的作用至关重要。玉米全基因组测序工作开展较晚, 已经鉴定登记的miRNAs很少, 对靶基因的调控作用尚待解明。文章根据miRNA进化上的保守性, 以已知的植物miRNAs为探针, 与相关数据库中玉米表达序列标签(EST)和基因组序列(GSS)中的非编码序列比对, 共发现11个新的miRNA前体。虽然在序列长度和二级结构方面各有变化, 但这11个前体均可折叠形成miRNA家族的标准二级结构。通过靶基因预测, 找到其中7条miRNAs的26个靶基因, 分别编码与新陈代谢、信号转导、转录调节、跨膜运输、生物和非生物胁迫及叶绿体组装等相关的蛋白。这些miRNAs及其靶基因的鉴定, 补充了miRNA数据库的不足。     

病毒microRNA研究进展

microRNA(miRNA)是一类存在于多细胞生物中长约21-24nt的非编码RNA分子,它们与靶mRNA分子互补结合抑制蛋白翻译或导致mRNA降解,从而调控靶基因表达。miRNA已被证实在多种代谢途径中发挥重要作用,调节包括细胞分化和分裂、细胞凋亡及癌症发生在内的多个细胞过程。利用生物信息学以及分子克隆的方法在线虫、哺乳动物以及植物中已发现超过4000条miRNA。最近在病毒中也发现有miRNA基因存在,通过对病毒miRNA靶基因的预测,推测其在病毒复制过程中发挥重要的调控作用。目前病毒编码的miRNA分子的特点、转录机制、功能、进化保守性以及病毒与宿主miRNA的关系都已有一定的了解。对于病毒相关miRNA研究的深入,必将对认识病毒-宿主相互作用以及相关疾病的治疗带来新的启示。     

基于EST和GSS序列的玉米未知微RNA的数据挖掘

miRNAs通过与靶基因互补位点配对结合,在转录后水平负性调控靶基因的表达.根据miRNA进化上的保守性,以拟南芥、水稻等已知的植物miRNAs为探针,与相关数据库中玉米表达序列标签(EST)和基因组序列(GSS)中的非编码序列比对,采用一系列的标准进行筛选,最后预测得到24个玉米miRNA前体,通过靶基因的预测共得到61个靶基因.通过生物信息学方法大大提高了人们发现miRNAs及其靶基因的效率,补充了玉米miRNA数据库的不足.     

水稻中介导基因沉默相关microRNA的SNP分析

miRNA是重要的调节因子,在植物的生长发育和抗逆等过程中扮演不可替代的角色。和miRNA介导的基因沉默相关的单核苷酸多态性(SNP)可能和植物生长发育和农艺性状密切相关。为进一步了解在miRNA和其靶基因上的进化压力以及SNP如何通过影响miRNA和靶基因对的互补模式从而影响miRNA相关的性状,我们利用3000份水稻基因组数据分析了编码miRNA的基因进行全基因组SNP,发现premiRNA上SNP的密度比基因间隔区低平均4%,比外显子区域低平均8%。对比成熟的保守miRNA和非保守miRNA发现,两者各位点上SNP分布的趋势并不相同,暗示了两者各位点上的进化压力存在差异;通过比较成熟的保守miRNA和其相应的靶基因结合位点,则发现它们之间SNP分布有相关性,说明miRNA和相应靶基因结合位点存在共同进化。另外,我们找到了两个靶基因OsARF13和Os MADS27的miRNA结合位点上携带有两个可能对miRNA介导的调节产生重要影响的SNP。该项研究从全基因组水平揭示miRNA和靶基因存在SNP,可能加深甚我们对miRNA介导的基因沉默机理的理解。     

精神分裂症相关单核苷酸多态性调控microRNA功能研究进展

MicroRNA(miRNAs)是一类长约22nt且对基因表达具有广泛的调控作用的非编码RNA,并在神经元增殖、分化和发育成熟的过程中扮演重要角色。近年来全基因组关联研究(genome-wide association studies, GWAS)发现了众多的精神分裂症相关单核苷酸多态性(single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs)位点多位于非编码区,表明miRNA在精神分裂症的发病过程中存在重要作用。本文综述了精神分裂症相关SNP与miRNA可能发生相互作用的4种机制(SNP位于miRNA基因、SNP位于miRNA宿主基因、SNP位于miRNA种子序列和SNP位于miRNA结合位点),为研究miRNA在精神分裂症发生发展中的作用提供参考。     

MicroRNA与肿瘤相关的信号转导通路

信号转导通路在细胞代谢、生长、增殖、应激、发育和凋亡等生命活动中具有极为重要的作用。干扰这些通路将可能影响细胞的正常发育, 甚至导致肿瘤。MicroRNA(miRNA)是近年来在真核生物中发现的、在转录后水平负调节基因表达的一类长度约22个核苷酸的非编码小RNA, 其靶基因数目众多, 生物学功能广泛。在多种肿瘤中发现了miRNA的异常表达, 提示后者与肿瘤发生有关, 可能机制为调控癌基因或肿瘤抑制基因的表达。此外亦发现miRNA的靶基因有许多作用于肿瘤相关的信号转导通路。miRNA在肿瘤发生过程中的重要调控功能预示其将成为人类癌症诊断和治疗方面的新星。     

人类基因组miRNA转录调控区保守性DNA序列生物信息学分析

MicroRNA(miPNA)的表达调控方式一直是一个有争议的问题,为了研究miRNA潜在的转录调控特点,本文通过Sanger网站miRNA数据库获得人类miRNA的信息,并建立miRNA相关信息数据库,用MEME和Wordspy两个软件对其上游2 000 bp序列进行保守性分析,得到保守性的DNA序YU(motif),用TESS软件分析保守性DNA序列,预测其转录因子结合情况.通过比较位于基因间、反义链和内含子中的三类不同miRNA转录调控区的保守性和自主转录能力的差异,结果发现位于基因间、反义链上的miRNA上游调控区的保守性比位于内含子的miRNA高,在miRNA的转录调控区存在RNA聚合酶Ⅱ类型的转录因子结合位点,miRNA还表现出自身独特的转录调控方式.通过分析,我们还得到了miRNA表达调控中一些重要的转录因子以及独特的调控序列.本研究结果为miRNA转录调控机制的进一步研究提供了理论依据.     

骨质疏松易感SNP rs4325274通过增强子远程调控SOX6基因的功能机制研究

骨质疏松症是一种典型的多基因复杂疾病,遗传力高达85%,其发病率已跃居常见疾病的第5位。尽管已经鉴定出大量骨质疏松易感SNP,但大多数SNP位点位于基因组非编码区,且功能机制未知。本研究旨在通过生物信息学分析和功能实验探究骨质疏松非编码功能性易感SNP rs4325274的分子调控机制。首先,通过表观注释发现该SNP所在区域处在增强子上,eQTL和Hi-C分析结果发现SNP调控的潜在靶基因是SOX6;然后,利用多种数据库进行Motif预测,并结合GEO数据库中的ChIP-seq数据分析进行了验证,结果发现转录因子HNF1A更倾向于结合SNP rs4325274-G碱基;进一步通过双荧光素酶报告基因实验验证了该SNP对SOX6基因表达的增强作用;最后,利用shRNA敲低转录因子HNF1A实验,检测靶基因SOX6的表达变化。以上研究结果初步解析了非编码区功能性SNPrs4325274作为增强子远程调控SOX6基因表达的分子机制,为复杂疾病非编码易感SNP的遗传调控研究提供新思路。     

温室白粉虱触角miRNA转录组分析及调控嗅觉相关基因miRNA的鉴定

microRNA(miRNA)是一类真核生物中内源性的非编码小RNA,在基因转录后水平调控靶基因的小分子.温室白粉虱(Trialeurodes vaporariorum)是一种危害多种蔬菜、花卉及农作物等的世界性害虫,可以导致植物细菌性病害的传播和流行,其触角对温室白粉虱的取食、行为和生长发育等起到了重要作用.本研究以温室白粉虱成虫触角为材料,通过Illumina高通量测序平台对其miRNA转录组进行测序,结合生物信息学分析,鉴定到83个已知miRNAs和38个新miRNA(novel_mirs),并对它们表达水平进行定量分析.此外,对已知miRNA种子序列碱基编辑情况进行了调查.最后,利用生物信息学工具对miRNAs进行靶基因预测和功能注释,获得了 miRNA-靶基因关系及调控嗅觉相关基因的miRNAs.本研究为深入探讨温室白粉虱触角miRNA中嗅觉相关基因的调控关系,了解昆虫嗅觉形成的分子机制提供了参考.     

人类miRNA上游转录因子及下游靶基因的基因本体分析

目的研究人类miRNA转录因子及靶基因之间的相关关系。方法利用生物信息学方法预测miR-NA的上游转录因子和下游靶基因,并对预测结果做基因本体分析,得到参与各生物学过程及分子功能的比例,用统计学软件PASW做相关性分析。结果人类382个miRNA参与应激、代谢、发育等10个生物学过程和行使转录调控、翻译调控、催化活性等12个分子功能,miRNA上游转录因子之间、下游靶基因之间以及上下游之间存在着广泛的正负相关关系。结论基因在参与生物学过程及行使分子功能的过程中,通过miRNA实现协同作用或隔离效应。     

Prioritizing human cancer microRNAs based on genes' functional consistency between microRNA and cancer

The identification of human cancer-related microRNAs (miRNAs) is important for cancer biology research. Although several identification methods have achieved remarkable success, they have overlooked the functional information associated with miRNAs. We present a computational framework that can be used to prioritize human cancer miRNAs by measuring the association between cancer and miRNAs based on the functional consistency score (FCS) of the miRNA target genes and the cancer-related genes. This approach proved successful in identifying the validated cancer miRNAs for 11 common human cancers with area under ROC curve (AUC) ranging from 71.15% to 96.36%. The FCS method had a significant advantage over miRNA differential expression analysis when identifying cancer-related miRNAs with a fine regulatory mechanism, such as miR-27a in colorectal cancer. Furthermore, a case study examining thyroid cancer showed that the FCS method can uncover novel cancer-related miRNAs such as miR-27a/b, which were showed significantly upregulated in thyroid cancer samples by qRT-PCR analysis. Our method can be used on a web-based server, CMP (cancer miRNA prioritization) and is freely accessible at http://bioinfo.hrbmu.edu.cn/CMP. This time- and cost-effective computational framework can be a valuable complement to experimental studies and can assist with future studies of miRNA involvement in the pathogenesis of cancers.     

整合分析基因表达与拷贝数变异识别癌症的驱动基因及调控子miRNAs

目的:通过整合分析基因的表达与拷贝数变异(CNV)识别癌症的驱动基因及调控子mi RNAs。方法:通过整合基因表达与CNV数据,分别计算了乳腺癌、结肠癌、肺癌、肾癌、膀胱癌、头颈癌六种癌症中mi RNAs的调控得分,提出了一个识别驱动基因和显著调控子mi RNAs的方法。结果:本文研究发现,CNV区域上编码的基因相比于非CNV区域上编码的基因更倾向于受mi RNAs调控。但是,癌相关CNV区域上的基因相比正常CNV区域上的基因更少受mi RNAs调控。本研究识别出了EXOSC4、ZNF7、BOP1等原癌基因,以及mi R-488、mi R-27a、mi R-454等在多种癌症中都起调控作用的调控子mi RNAs。结论:本文的方法为癌症研究带来了新的启发,这些具有调控扩增基因过表达作用的mi RNAs的发现,有助于我们更进一步了解癌基因表达的复杂调控机制,进而推动癌症的诊断、治疗和预后。     

MicroRNA‐guided gene expression in prostate cancer: Literature and database overview

Insight into the aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) and the genes that they regulate during the progression of cancer in general and prostate cancer (PCa) in particular is one of the most important issues in current molecular biomedicine and allows for the discovery of therapeutic or diagnostic miRNA targets. The present study aimed to analyze the available data regarding the direct or indirect effects of miRNAs on the expression of the mRNAs involved in carcinogenesis and to enable updating and optimizing the selection of the corresponding targets. The present review focuses on the data related to the genes with miRNA‐dependent expression during the development of PCa. The data used in this review have been extracted from research papers and the databases STRING, PANTHER and TargetScan, with a special focus on the genes directly associated with cell transformation and the maintenance of the transformed genotype, as well as tumor invasion and spread. The search for miRNA markers of PCa and therapeutically active molecules should rely on bioinformatics resources, such as data from recent experimental studies, as well as meta‐analysis and cross‐analysis of the data on the state of the tumor, patient status, histological/immunohistological data and data on mRNA–miRNA coexpression.     

A microRNA panel that regulates proinflammatory cytokines as diagnostic and prognosis biomarkers in colon cancer

Colon cancer (CC) is the third most common neoplasm and the fourth cause of cancer-related death worldwide in both sexes. It has been established that inflammation plays a critical role in tumorigenesis and progression of CC. Immune, stromal and tumor cells supply the tumor microenvironment with pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 1β, TNFα, IL-6 and IL-11, to hyperactivate signaling pathways linked to cancerous processes. Recent findings suggest a putative role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the progression and management of the inflammatory response in intestinal diseases. Moreover, miRNAs are able to regulate expression of molecular mediators that are linking inflammation and cancer. In this work a miRNA panel differentially expressed between healthy, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and CC tissue was established. Identified miRNAs regulate signaling pathways related to inflammation and cancer progression. An inflammation associated-miRNA panel composed of 11-miRNAs was found to be overexpressed in CC but not in inflamed or normal tissues (miR-21-5p, miR-304-5p, miR-577, miR-335-5p, miR-21-3p, miR-27b-5p, miR-335-3p, miR-215-5p, miR-30b-5p, miR-192-5p, miR-3065-5p). The association of top hit miRNAs, miR-3065-5p and miR-30b-5p expression with overall survival of CC patients was demonstrated using Kaplan-Meier tests. Finally, differential miRNA expression was validated using an inflammation-associated CC model induced by Azoxymethane/Dextran Sodium Sulfate (AOM/DSS) to compare miRNA expression in normal and inflamed tissue versus CC tissues. Based on these findings we propose the identified inflammatory miRNA panel as a potent diagnostic tool for CC determination.     

Genome-wide aberrant DNA methylation of microRNA host genes in hepatocellular carcinoma

Mature microRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs involved in posttranslational gene silencing. Previous studies found that downregulation of miRNAs is a common feature observed in solid tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We employed a genome-wide approach to test the hypothesis that DNA methylation alterations in miRNA host genes may cause deregulated miRNA expression in HCC. We analyzed tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues from 62 Taiwanese HCC cases using Infinium HumanMethylation27 DNA Analysis BeadChips that include 254 CpG sites covering 110 miRNAs from 64 host genes. Expression levels of three identified miRNAs (miR-10a, miR-10b and miR-196b) were measured in a subset of 37 HCC tumor and non-tumor tissues. After Bonferroni adjustment, a total of 54 CpG sites from 27 host genes significantly differed in DNA methylation levels between tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues with 53 sites significantly hypermethylated in tumor tissues. Among the 54 significant CpG sites, 15 sites had more than 2-fold tumor/non-tumor changes, 17 sites had differences > 10%, and 10 sites had both features [including 8 significantly hypermethylated CpG sites in the host genes of miR-10a, miR-10b and miR-196b (HOXB4, HOXD4 and HOXA9, respectively)]. Significant downregulation of miR-10a was observed in tumor compared with non-tumor tissues (0.50 vs. 1.73, p = 0.031). The concordance for HOXB4 methylation alteration and dysregulation of miR-10a was 73.5%. No significant change was observed for miR-10b expression. Unexpectedly, miR-196b was significantly upregulated in tumor compared with non-tumor tissues (p = 0.0001). These data suggest that aberrant DNA methylation may lead to dysregulation of miR-10a in HCC tumor tissues.     

SNP Regulation of microRNA Expression and Subsequent Colon Cancer Risk

Introduction

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and as such have been implicated in a variety of diseases, including cancer. MiRNAs regulate mRNAs through binding of the miRNA 5’ seed sequence (~7–8 nucleotides) to the mRNA 3’ UTRs; polymorphisms in these regions have the potential to alter miRNA-mRNA target associations. SNPs in miRNA genes as well as miRNA-target genes have been proposed to influence cancer risk through altered miRNA expression levels.

Methods

MiRNA-SNPs and miRNA-target gene-SNPs were identified through the literature. We used SNPs from Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) data that were matched to individuals with miRNA expression data generated from an Agilent platform for colon tumor and non-tumor paired tissues. These samples were used to evaluate 327 miRNA-SNP pairs for associations between SNPs and miRNA expression levels as well as for SNP associations with colon cancer.

Results

Twenty-two miRNAs expressed in non-tumor tissue were significantly different by genotype and 21 SNPs were associated with altered tumor/non-tumor differential miRNA expression across genotypes. Two miRNAs were associated with SNP genotype for both non-tumor and tumor/non-tumor differential expression. Of the 41 miRNAs significantly associated with SNPs all but seven were significantly differentially expressed in colon tumor tissue. Two of the 41 SNPs significantly associated with miRNA expression levels were associated with colon cancer risk: rs8176318 (BRCA1), OR_AA 1.31 95% CI 1.01, 1.78, and rs8905 (PRKAR1A), OR_GG 2.31 95% CI 1.11, 4.77.

Conclusion

Of the 327 SNPs identified in the literature as being important because of their potential regulation of miRNA expression levels, 12.5% had statistically significantly associations with miRNA expression. However, only two of these SNPs were significantly associated with colon cancer.     

The roles of microRNA in cancer and apoptosis

microRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved, non-protein-coding RNAs that function to regulate gene expression. In mammals this regulation is primarily carried out by repression of translation. miRNAs play important roles in homeostatic processes such as development, cell proliferation and cell death. Recently the dysregulation of miRNAs has been linked to cancer initiation and progression, indicating that miRNAs may play roles as tumour suppressor genes or oncogenes. The role of miRNAs in apoptosis is not fully understood, however, evidence is mounting that miRNAs are important in this process. The dysregulation of miRNAs involved in apoptosis may provide a mechanism for cancer development and resistance to cancer therapy. This review examines the biosynthesis of miRNA, the mechanisms of miRNA target regulation and the involvement of miRNAs in the initiation and progression of human cancer. It will include miRNAs involved in apoptosis, specifically those miRNAs involved in the regulation of apoptotic pathways and tumour suppressor/oncogene networks. It will also consider emerging evidence supporting a role for miRNAs in modulating sensitivity to anti-cancer therapy.