Dataset Information

Deciphering the transcriptional regulation of microRNA genes in humans with ACTLocater.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the transcriptional regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is extremely important for determining the specific roles they play in signaling cascades. However, precise identification of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) orchestrating the expressions of miRNAs remains a challenge. By combining accessible chromatin sequences of 12 cell types released by the ENCODE Project, we found that a significant fraction (~80%) of such integrated sequences, evolutionary conserved and in regions upstream of human miRNA genes that are independently transcribed, were preserved across cell types. Accordingly, we developed a computational method, Accessible and Conserved TFBSs Locater (ACTLocater), incorporating this chromatin feature and evolutionary conservation to identify the TFBSs associated with human miRNA genes. ACTLocater achieved high positive predictive values, as revealed by the experimental validation of FOXA1 predictions and by the comparison of its predictions of some other transcription factors (TFs) to empirical ChIP-seq data. Most notably, ACTLocater was widely applicable as indicated by the successful prediction of TF ? miRNA interactions in cell types whose chromatin accessibility profiles were not incorporated. By applying ACTLocater to TFs with characterized binding specificities, we compiled a novel repository of putative TF ? miRNA interactions and displayed it in ACTViewer, providing a promising foundation for future investigations to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of miRNA transcription in humans.

SUBMITTER: Xiao ZD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3592406 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Deciphering the transcriptional regulation of microRNA genes in humans with ACTLocater.

Xiao Zhen-Dong ZD Diao Li-Ting LT Yang Jian-Hua JH Xu Hui H Huang Mian-Bo MB Deng Yong-Jin YJ Zhou Hui H Qu Liang-Hu LH

Nucleic acids research 20120831 1

Understanding the transcriptional regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is extremely important for determining the specific roles they play in signaling cascades. However, precise identification of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) orchestrating the expressions of miRNAs remains a challenge. By combining accessible chromatin sequences of 12 cell types released by the ENCODE Project, we found that a significant fraction (~80%) of such integrated sequences, evolutionary conserved and in region ...[more]

PMID: 22941648

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Project description:Squamous cell lung cancer (SCC) and adenocarcinoma are the most common subtypes of the lung tumours. The search for cancer-directed treatments has increased the need for understanding molecular features of either histological subtype. The aim of this study was to identify transcriptional regulation differences due to miRNA expression profiles between SCC and adenocarcinoma. For this propose, a total of 44 patients were evaluated to assess the correlation between the miRNA and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels. Total RNA were isolated, amplified, labeled and hybridized on Agilent human whole genome V2 22 K microarray chip. qRT-PCR was conducted to validate our microarray data. MicroRNA expression was detected and quantified using the TaqMan Low Density Arrays. Predicted miRNA-mRNA interactions were taken from miRanda, miRWalk and TargetScan. After processing data, changes in 56 mRNAs as well as in 9 miRNAs were detected between SCC and adenocarcinoma. Nearly 20% of overall deregulated genes were targeted by at least one of the 9 miRNAs (miR-149, miR-205, miR-375, miR-378, miR-422a, miR-483-5p, miR-494, miR-601 and miR-708) differentially expressed between SCC and adenocarcinoma. Genes predicted (CEACAM6, CGN, CLDN3, ABCC3, MLPH, ACSL5, TMEM45B, MUC1) to be targeted by several miRNAs were individually validated by qRT-PCR. We found genes involved in tight junctions and other involved in resistance to anticancer agents. These genes were reliable biomarkers, with high sensitivity and specificity, to detect differences between the two most common histological subtypes of lung cancer. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that the transcriptional regulation differences through miRNA expression play an important role in key hallmarks of non-small cell lung cancer. Identification of new molecular markers in lung carcinoma 44 tumour samples following surgical resection for clinical early stage NSCLC (SCC and adenocarcinoma) This series represents the mRNA profiling only (not miRNA). The related miRNA data are in Series GSE43000.

Project description:BackgroundDNA methylation in the 5' promoter regions of genes and microRNA (miRNA) regulation at the 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) are two major epigenetic regulation mechanisms in most eukaryotes. Both DNA methylation and miRNA regulation can suppress gene expression and their corresponding protein product; thus, they play critical roles in cellular processes. Although there have been numerous investigations of gene regulation by methylation changes and miRNAs, there is no systematic genome-wide examination of their coordinated effects in any organism.ResultsIn this study, we investigated the relationship between promoter methylation at the transcription level and miRNA regulation at the post-transcription level by taking advantage of recently released human methylome data and high quality miRNA and other gene annotation data. We found methylation level in the promoter regions and expression level was negatively correlated. Then, we showed that miRNAs tended to target the genes with a low DNA methylation level in their promoter regions. We further demonstrated that this observed pattern was not attributed to the gene expression level, expression broadness, or the number of transcription factor binding sites. Interestingly, we found miRNA target sites were significantly enriched in the genes located in differentially methylated regions or partially methylated domains. Finally, we explored the features of DNA methylation and miRNA regulation in cancer genes and found cancer genes tended to have low methylation level and more miRNA target sites.ConclusionThis is the first genome-wide investigation of the combined regulation of gene expression. Our results supported a complementary regulation between DNA methylation (transcriptional level) and miRNA function (post-transcriptional level) in the human genome. The results were helpful for our understanding of the evolutionary forces towards organisms' complexity beyond traditional sequence level investigation.

Dataset Information

Deciphering the transcriptional regulation of microRNA genes in humans with ACTLocater.

Publications

Deciphering the transcriptional regulation of microRNA genes in humans with ACTLocater.

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