Abstract
The paired box gene 6 (PAX6) is a powerful mediator of eye and brain organogenesis whose spatiotemporal expression is exquisitely controlled by multiple mechanisms, including post-transcriptional regulation by microRNAs (miRNAs). In the present study, we use bioinformatic predictions to identify three candidate microRNA-7 (miR-7) target sites in the human PAX6 3′ untranslated region (3′-UTR) and demonstrate that two of them are functionally active in a human cell line. Furthermore, transient transfection of cells with synthetic miR-7 inhibits PAX6 protein expression but does not alter levels of PAX6 mRNA, suggesting that miR-7 induces translational repression of PAX6. Finally, a comparison of PAX6 3′-UTRs across species reveals that one of the functional miR-7 target sites is conserved, whereas the second functional target site is found only in primates. Thus, the interaction between PAX6 and miR-7 appears to be highly conserved; however, the precise number of sites through which this interaction occurs may have expanded throughout evolution.
Keywords
[RstdPub], 3′-UTR, miR-7, miRNA, PAX6, messenger RNA, microRNA, microRNA 7, transcription factor PAX6, unclassified drug, 3' untranslated region, article, controlled study, gene expression, human, molecular interaction, nonhuman, Pax6 gene, protein expression, regulatory mechanism, species comparison, transient transfection, translation regulation
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2014
Faculty
Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science
Publisher
Libertas Academica
School
School of Medical Sciences
RAS ID
19300
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
Comments
Needhamsen M., White R.B., Giles K.M., Dunlop S.A., Thomas M.G. (2014). Regulation of human PAX6 expression by miR-7. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 10(), 107-113. Available here