Analysis of microRNA turnover in mammalian cells following Dicer1 ablation
Although microRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of gene expression, little is known of their overall persistence in the cell following processing. Characterization of such persistence is key to the full appreciation of their regulatory roles. Accordingly, we measured miRNA decay rates in mouse embryo...
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Published in | Nucleic acids research Vol. 39; no. 13; pp. 5692 - 5703 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Oxford University Press
01.07.2011
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Although microRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of gene expression, little is known of their overall persistence in the cell following processing. Characterization of such persistence is key to the full appreciation of their regulatory roles. Accordingly, we measured miRNA decay rates in mouse embryonic fibroblasts following loss of Dicer1 enzymatic activity. The results confirm the inherent stability of miRNAs, the intracellular levels of which were mostly affected by cell division. Using the decay rates of a panel of six miRNAs representative of the global trend of miRNA decay, we establish a mathematical model of miRNA turnover and determine an average miRNA half-life of 119 h (i.e. ∼5 days). In addition, we demonstrate that select miRNAs turnover more rapidly than others. This study constitutes, to our knowledge, the first in-depth characterization of miRNA decay in mammalian cells. Our findings indicate that miRNAs are up to 10× more stable than messenger RNA and support the existence of novel mechanism(s) controlling selective miRNA cellular concentration and function. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 The authors wish it to be known that, in their opinion, the first two authors should be regarded as joint First Authors. |
ISSN: | 0305-1048 1362-4962 |
DOI: | 10.1093/nar/gkr148 |