Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and copy number variations (CNVs) represent two classes of newly discovered genomic elements that were shown to contribute to genome plasticity and evolution. Recent studies demonstrated that miRNAs and CNVs must have co-evolved and interacted in an attempt to maintain the balance of the dosage sensitive genes and at the same time increase the diversity of dosage non-sensitive genes, contributing to species evolution. It has been previously demonstrated that both the number of miRNAs that target genes found in CNV regions as well as the number of miRNA binding sites are significantly higher than those of genes found in non-CNV regions. These findings raise the possibility that miRNAs may have been created under evolutionary pressure, as a mechanism for increasing the tolerance to genome plasticity. In the current study, we aimed in exploring the differences of miRNAs-CNV functional interactions between human and seven others species. By performing in silico whole genome analysis in eight different species (human, chimpanzee, macaque, mouse, rat, chicken, dog and cow), we demonstrate that miRNAs targeting genes located within CNV regions in humans have special functional characteristics that provide an insight into the differences between humans and other species.
Highlights
MicroRNAs constitute a class of short endogenous non-coding RNA molecules of 21–25 nucleotides in length which function as negative regulators of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level in multicellular eukaryotes [1]
These observations confirm our previous results in which it was demonstrated that both the number of miRNAs that target genes found in Copy Number Variations (CNVs) regions as well as the number of miRNA binding sites are highly significantly enriched in humans
It has been already shown that genes found in CNV regions are evolutionarily subjected to higher miRNA regulation as such genes are predicted to be regulated by more miRNAs and harbor more abundant miRNA binding sites compared with their non-CNV counterparts [3,4]
Summary
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a class of short endogenous non-coding RNA molecules of 21–25 nucleotides (nt) in length which function as negative regulators of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level in multicellular eukaryotes [1]. By performing in silico whole genome analysis, it has been demonstrated that both the number of miRNAs that target genes found in CNVs regions as well as the number of miRNA binding sites are significantly higher than those of genes found in non-CNV regions[3,4]. These findings raise the possibility that miRNAs may have been created under evolutionary pressure, as a mechanism for increasing the tolerance to genome plasticity. Our main hypothesis is that this particular function of miRNAs and their close relation with CNVs may be more significant in human lineage due to evolution of special characteristics in human physiology
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