Post-transcriptional and translational regulation of mRNA-like long non-coding RNAs by microRNAs in early developmental stages of zebrafish embryos

BMB Rep. 2017 Apr;50(4):226-231. doi: 10.5483/bmbrep.2017.50.4.025.

Abstract

At the post-transcriptional and translational levels, microRNA (miRNA) represses protein-coding genes via seed pairing to the 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNA. Although working models of miRNA-mediated gene silencing are successfully established using miRNA transfections and knockouts, the regulatory interaction between miRNA and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) remain unknown. In particular, how the mRNA-resembling lncRNAs with 5' cap, 3' poly(A)-tail, or coding features, are regulated by miRNA is yet to be examined. We therefore investigated the functional interaction between miRNAs and lncRNAs with/without those features, in miRNAtransfected early zebrafish embryos. We observed that the greatest determinants of the miRNA-mediated silencing of lncRNAs were the 5' cap and 3' poly(A)-tails in lncRNAs, at both the post-transcriptional and translational levels. The lncRNAs confirmed to contain 5' cap, 3' poly(A)-tail, and the canonical miRNA target sites, were observed to be repressed in the level of both RNA and ribosome-protected fragment, while those with the miRNA target sites and without 5' cap and 3' poly(A)-tail, were not robustly repressed by miRNA introduction, thus suggesting a role as a miRNA-decoy. [BMB Reports 2017; 50(4): 226-231].

MeSH terms

  • 3' Untranslated Regions
  • Animals
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian / metabolism*
  • Embryonic Development / genetics
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Silencing
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / antagonists & inhibitors
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / genetics
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / metabolism*
  • Transcriptome
  • Zebrafish / growth & development

Substances

  • 3' Untranslated Regions
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Long Noncoding