Computational identification of novel microRNA homologs in the chimpanzee genome
Computational identification of novel microRNA homologs in the chimpanzee genome
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DOI：
10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2008.07.024
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发表时间：
2009-02-01
影响因子：
3.1
通讯作者：
Minkov, Ivan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Baev, Vesselin;Daskalova, Evelina;Minkov, Ivan
microRNA是高等真核生物基因表达的重要负调控因子。与人类亲缘关系最近的动物黑猩猩（Pan troglodytes）的miRNA库在很大程度上是未知的。在这项研究中，我们专注于计算搜索新的miRNA同源黑猩猩。我们已经搜索并分析了人类前体miRNA和成熟miRNA序列的黑猩猩同源物。基于对黑猩猩基因组的同源性搜索，以人类miRNA前体序列作为查询，我们鉴定了639个黑猩猩miRNA基因，其中包括529个新的黑猩猩miRNA。91.8%的黑猩猩成熟miRNAs和60.3%的前体与人类直系同源物100%相同。pre-miRNA二级结构、miRNA家族和簇也是高度保守的。我们还发现了两个物种分化后发生的前体miRNA甚至成熟miRNA的某些序列差异。其中一些差异（特别是成熟的miRNAs）可能导致其靶基因表达水平的物种特异性变化，这反过来又可能导致人类和黑猩猩之间的表型变异。(c)2008爱思唯尔有限公司保留所有权利。
MicroRNAs are important negative regulators of gene expression in higher eukaryotes. The miRNA repertoire of the closest human animal relative, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), is largely unknown. In this study, we focused on computational search of novel miRNA homologs in chimpanzee. We have searched and analyzed the chimp homologs of the human pre-miRNA and mature miRNA sequences. Based on a homology search of the chimpanzee genome with human miRNA precursor sequences as queries, we identified 639 chimp miRNA genes, including 529 novel chimp miRNAs. 91.8% of chimp mature miRNAs and 60.3% of precursors are 100% identical to their human orthologs. The pre-miRNA secondary structures, miRNA families, and clusters are also highly conserved. We also found certain sequence differences in pre-miRNAs and even mature miRNAs that occurred after the divergence of the two species. Some of these differences (especially in mature miRNAs) could have caused species-specific changes in the expression levels of their target genes which in turn could have resulted in phenotypic variation between human and chimp. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.