Models of microRNA–target coordination

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511541766.019

16 - Models of microRNA–target coordination

from III - Computational biology of microRNAs

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 August 2009

Neil R. Smalheiser and

Vetle I. Torvik

Edited by

Krishnarao Appasani

Foreword by

Sidney Altman and

Victor R. Ambros

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Neil R. Smalheiser: Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago Psychiatric Institute 1601 W. Taylor Street Chicago, IL 60612 USA
Vetle I. Torvik: Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago Psychiatric Institute 1601 W. Taylor Street Chicago, IL 60612 USA

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Summary

Introduction

The number of microRNAs appears to be ever-growing, as more intensive sequencing of small RNAs reveals a large population of sequences that are expressed at low abundance, or in a tissue- or stage-specific manner. Computational studies have also predicted the existence of thousands of candidate microRNA precursor hairpin structures throughout mammalian genomes (reviewed in Bentwich, 2005). The number of predicted potential targets per microRNA is also steadily increasing, with the recognition that binding of a 7-mer seed at the 5′-end of a microRNA may be sufficient to regulate a target mRNA functionally (Doench and Sharp, 2004; Farh et al., 2005; Lim et al., 2005; Stark et al., 2005; Sood et al., 2006). But how are microRNAs and their targets coordinated – if at all?

A random model

One recent paper proposes that microRNAs arise whenever a RNA hairpin structure happens to be transcribed, that happens to be competent for processing by Drosha and Dicer (Svoboda and Cara, 2006). Most of these microRNAs will have no function at all, at least not initially: They will bind to a relatively large number of putative target regions at random (a 7-mer sequence will bind randomly every 47 = 16 384 bases on average), and those target regions that happen to be associated with a useful phenotypic response will tend to be retained over evolutionary time whereas those mRNAs that show deleterious responses will become relatively depleted in target sequences (Svoboda and Cara, 2006).

Type: Chapter
Information: MicroRNAs
From Basic Science to Disease Biology
, pp. 221 - 226

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541766.019 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2007

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