State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
BMC Genomics. 2011 May 31;12(1):276. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-12-276.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and pluripotency. Numerous studies have revealed human and mouse ESC miRNA profiles. As a model for human-related study, the rhesus macaque is ideal for delineating the regulatory mechanisms of miRNAs in ESCs. However, studies on rhesus macaque (r)ESCs are lacking due to limited rESC availability and a need for systematic analyses of fundamental rESC characteristics.
We established three rESC lines and profiled microRNA using Solexa sequencing resulting in 304 known and 66 novel miRNAs. MiRNA profiles were highly conserved between rESC lines and predicted target genes were significantly enriched in differentiation pathways. Further analysis of the miRNA-target network indicated that gene expression regulated by miRNAs was negatively correlated to their evolutionary rate in rESCs. Moreover, a cross-species comparison revealed an overall conservation of miRNA expression patterns between human, mouse and rhesus macaque ESCs. However, we identified three miRNA clusters (miR-467, the miRNA cluster in the imprinted Dlk1-Dio3 region and C19MC) that showed clear interspecies differences.
rESCs share a unique miRNA set that may play critical roles in self-renewal and pluripotency. MiRNA expression patterns are generally conserved between species. However, species and/or lineage specific miRNA regulation changed during evolution.
MicroRNAs(miRNAs)在胚胎干细胞(ESC)自我更新和多能性中发挥重要作用。大量研究揭示了人和小鼠 ESC miRNA 谱。作为与人类相关研究的模型,恒河猴是阐明 ESC 中 miRNAs 调控机制的理想模型。然而,由于 rESC 的可用性有限且需要对 rESC 的基本特征进行系统分析,因此对 rhesus macaque(r)ESC 的研究还很缺乏。
我们建立了三个 rESC 系,并使用 Solexa 测序对 microRNA 进行了分析,结果鉴定出 304 个已知和 66 个新的 miRNA。rESC 系之间的 miRNA 谱高度保守,预测的靶基因在分化途径中显著富集。对 miRNA-靶基因网络的进一步分析表明,miRNA 调控的基因表达与其在 rESC 中的进化速率呈负相关。此外,跨物种比较表明,人类、小鼠和恒河猴 ESC 之间的 miRNA 表达模式总体上是保守的。然而,我们鉴定出三个 miRNA 簇(miR-467、印迹 Dlk1-Dio3 区域中的 miRNA 簇和 C19MC)在种间存在明显差异。
rESC 具有独特的 miRNA 集,可能在自我更新和多能性中发挥关键作用。miRNA 表达模式在物种间普遍保守。然而,物种和/或谱系特异性 miRNA 调控在进化过程中发生了变化。