Ingelson-Filpula W Aline, Hadj-Moussa Hanane, Storey Kenneth B
Department of Biology, Institute of Biochemistry, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK.
Cell Biochem Funct. 2023 Apr;41(3):309-320. doi: 10.1002/cbf.3783. Epub 2023 Feb 23.
The rapid and reversible nature of microRNA (miRNA) transcriptional regulation is ideal for implementing global changes to cellular processes and metabolism, a necessary asset for the freeze-tolerant gray tree frog (Dryophytes versicolor). D. versicolor can freeze up to 42% of its total body water during the winter and then thaw completely upon more favorable conditions of spring. Herein, we examined the freeze-specific miRNA responses in the gray tree frog using RBiomirGS, a bioinformatic tool designed for the analysis of miRNA-seq transcriptomics in non-genome sequenced organisms. We identified 11 miRNAs differentially regulated during freezing (miR-140-3p, miR-181a-5p, miR-206-3p, miR-451a, miR-19a-3p, miR-101-3p, miR-30e-5p, miR-142-3p and -5p, miR-21-5p, and miR-34a-5p). Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis suggests these miRNAs play roles in downregulating signaling pathways, apoptosis, and nuclear processes while enhancing ribosomal biogenesis. Overall, these findings point towards miRNA inducing a state of energy conservation by downregulating energy-expensive pathways, while ribosomal biogenesis may lead to prioritization of critical processes for freeze-tolerance survival.
微小RNA（miRNA）转录调控的快速可逆性，对于实现细胞过程和新陈代谢的全局变化而言是理想的，这是耐冻灰树蛙（变色雨蛙）所必需的特性。变色雨蛙在冬季可使高达其全身42%的水分冻结，然后在春季更适宜的条件下完全解冻。在此，我们使用RBiomirGS研究了灰树蛙中特定于冻结的miRNA反应，RBiomirGS是一种用于分析非基因组测序生物中miRNA序列转录组学的生物信息学工具。我们鉴定出11种在冻结过程中差异调节的miRNA（miR-140-3p、miR-181a-5p、miR-206-3p、miR-451a、miR-19a-3p、miR-101-3p、miR-30e-5p、miR-142-3p和-5p、miR-21-5p以及miR-34a-5p）。基因本体论和京都基因与基因组百科全书通路富集分析表明，这些miRNA在下调信号通路、细胞凋亡和核过程的同时，增强核糖体生物合成，从而发挥作用。总体而言，这些发现表明，miRNA通过下调耗能途径诱导能量守恒状态，而核糖体生物合成可能导致优先进行耐冻生存的关键过程。
