Abundant conserved microRNA target sites in the 5';-untranslated region and coding sequence

作者：Zhou Xue; Duan Xuchu; Qian Jinjun; Li Fei^*

来源：Genetica, 2009, 137(2): 159-164.

DOI：10.1007/s10709-009-9378-7

• MicroRNA
• Target sites
• 5 '
• -UTR
• CDS
• 3 '
• -UTR
• Conservation

Recent studies have shown that miRNAs can target the promoter and CDS region. Thus, we predicted miRNA target sites in the 5';-UTR, CDS and 3';-UTR of Homo sapiens, Mus musculus and Drosophila melanogaster using miRanda and TargetScan. Target-site densities normalized with the average region length were higher in the 5';-UTR than 3';-UTR in all three organisms but were lower in the negative data set. Interestingly, the putative target sites were more conserved than non-target regions in both the 5';-UTR and 3';-UTR, implying that target sites in the 5';-UTR are subject to high selective pressure and might be functional. In Drosophila, 48 of 78 (61.5%) miRNAs showed high similarities with predicted siRNAs. Based on the results of previous experimental studies and a large-scale statistical analysis, we conclude that miRNA-mediated regulation is not limited to the 3';-UTR. However, the functionality of target sites in the 5';-UTR and CDS requires thorough investigation.

• 出版日期2009-11
• 单位南京农业大学