Precise mapping of the transcription start sites of human microRNAs using DROSHA knockout cells

BMC Genomics

Research Article

Geon Jeong¹  Young-Kook Kim¹  Yeong-Hwan Lim¹ 

[1] Department of Biochemistry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea;Center for Creative Biomedical Scientists, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea;

关键词: MicroRNA;    Promoter;    Transcription start site;    DROSHA;    Knockout;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12864-016-3252-7

 received in 2016-05-28, accepted in 2016-11-04,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is primarily regulated during their transcription. However, the transcriptional regulation of miRNA genes has not been studied extensively owing to the lack of sufficient information about the promoters and transcription start sites of most miRNAs.ResultsIn this study, we identified the transcription start sites of human primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) using DROSHA knockout cells. DROSHA knockout resulted in increased accumulation of pri-miRNAs and facilitated the precise mapping of their 5′ end nucleotides using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. By analyzing the promoter region encompassing the transcription start sites of miRNAs, we found that the unrelated miRNAs in their sequences have many common elements in their promoters for binding the same transcription factors. Moreover, by analyzing intronic miRNAs, we also obtained comprehensive evidence that miRNA-harboring introns are spliced more slowly than other introns.ConclusionsThe precisely mapped transcription start sites of pri-miRNAs, and the list of transcription factors for pri-miRNAs regulation, will be valuable resources for future studies to understand the regulatory network of miRNAs.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016