Small non-coding RNA expression in mouse nephrogenic mesenchymal progenitors.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that are essential for the regulation of gene expression and play critical roles in human health and disease. Here we present comprehensive miRNA profiling data for mouse nephrogenic mesenchymal progenitors, a population of cells enriched for nephron progenitors that give rise to most cell-types of the nephron, the functional unit of the kidney. We describe a miRNA expression in nephrogenic mesenchymal progenitors, with 162 miRNAs differentially expressed in progenitors when compared to whole kidney. We also annotated 49 novel miRNAs in the developing kidney and experimentally validated 4 of them. Our data are available as a public resource, so that it can be integrated into future studies and analyzed in the context of other functional and epigenomic data in kidney development. Specifically, it will be useful in the effort to shed light on molecular mechanisms underlying processes essential for normal kidney development, like nephron progenitor specification, self-renewal and differentiation.