BACKGROUND Metazoan miRNAs regulate protein-coding genes by binding the 3' UTR of cognate mRNAs. Identifying targets for the 115 known C. elegans miRNAs is essential for understanding their function. RESULTS By using a new version of PicTar and sequence alignments of three nematodes, we predict that miRNAs regulate at least 10% of C. elegans genes through conserved interactions. We have devel...

In plants, microRNAs (miRNAs) comprise one of two classes of small RNAs that function primarily as negative regulators at the posttranscriptional level. Several MIRNA genes in the plant kingdom are ancient, with conservation extending between angiosperms and the mosses, whereas many others are more recently evolved. Here, we use deep sequencing and computational methods to identify, profile and...

objective: prostate cancer is the fifth most common cancer. in 2012, it was the second leading cause of cancer death for men worldwide. the pi3k/akt pathway plays an essential role in pathogenesis of prostate cancer; the key role of this pathway in cancer progression makes it an attractive target for prostate cancer therapy. micrornas (mirnas) that regulate gene expression have a special abilit...

Previously, cancer researchers have been focused on the genes that code proteins. They have considered those effects on tumorigenesis. However, discoveries of microRNAs (miRNAs) have shed a light on the role of non-protein-coding RNAs in tumorigenesis. The first small non-coding RNA, named lin-4 in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) was described by Lee et al in 1993 (Lee et al., 1993). Lin-4 ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNA that play an important role in posttranscriptional regulation of mRNA. Genetic variations in miRNAs or their target sites have been shown to alter miRNA function and have been associated with risk for several diseases. Previous studies have focused on the most abundant type of genetic variations, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect miRNA...

Abstract Background The microRNAs(miRNA)-derived secondary phased small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs) participate in post-transcriptional gene silencing and play important roles various bio-processes plants. In rice, two miRNAs, miR2118 miR2275, were mainly responsible for triggering of 21-nt 24-nt phasiRNAs biogenesis, respectively. However, relative fewer phasiRNA biogenesis pathways have been...

microRNA (miRNA) mediated repression of target genes plays essential roles in a variety of functions in plants. An easy-to-use method that can effectively validate functional miRNA-target interactions in plants thus is of particular interest. Here, we describe an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated in vivo assay utilizing a dual-luciferase reporter system. With this method, the strength of miRNA...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), important factors in animal innate immunity, suppress the expressions of their target genes by binding to target mRNA's 3' untranslated regions (3'UTRs). However, the mechanism of synchronous regulation of multiple targets by a single miRNA remains unclear. In this study, the interaction between a white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) miRNA (WSSV-miR-N32) and its two viral target...

Human immunodeficiency virus‑1 (HIV‑1) infection severely damages the gut‑associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), the immune system and the gut barrier, which leads to accelerating the disease progression for patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to this process. However, few studies have investigated the importance of miRNAs in ...

Although considerable progress has been made in the molecular biology of Colorectal cancer (CRC), novel approaches are still required to uncover the detailed molecular mechanism of CRC. We aim to explore the potential negatively regulated miRNA-mRNA pairs and investigate their regulatory roles so as to elaborate the potential roles of the critical proteins in the signaling pathways enriched by ...