MicroRNA regulation and tissue-specific protein interaction network.

BACKGROUND

'Fine-tuning' of protein abundance makes microRNAs (miRNAs) pervasively implicated in human biology. Although targeting many mRNAs endows the power of single miRNA to regulate complex biological processes, its functional roles in a particular tissue will be inevitably restricted because only a subset of its target genes is expressed.

METHODS

Here, we analyze the characteristics of miRNA regulation upon target genes according to tissue-specific gene expression by constructing tissue-specific protein interaction networks for ten main types of tissues in the human body.

RESULTS

Commonly expressed proteins are under more intensive but lower-cost miRNAs control than proteins with the tissue-specific expression. MiRNAs that target more commonly expressed genes usually regulate more tissue-specific genes. This is consistent with the previous finding that tissue-specific proteins tend to be functionally connected with commonly expressed proteins. But to a particular miRNA such a balance is not invariable among different tissues implying diverse tissue regulation modes executed by miRNAs.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest miRNAs that interact with more commonly expressed genes can be expected to play important tissue-specific roles.