Abstract
BackgroundMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of biological processes. To define miRNA function in the eye, it is essential to determine a high-resolution profile of their spatial and temporal distribution.ResultsIn this report, we present the first comprehensive survey of miRNA expression in ocular tissues, using both microarray and RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) procedures. We initially determined the expression profiles of miRNAs in the retina, lens, cornea and retinal pigment epithelium of the adult mouse eye by microarray. Each tissue exhibited notably distinct miRNA enrichment patterns and cluster analysis identified groups of miRNAs that showed predominant expression in specific ocular tissues or combinations of them. Next, we performed RNA ISH for over 220 miRNAs, including those showing the highest expression levels by microarray, and generated a high-resolution expression atlas of miRNAs in the developing and adult wild-type mouse eye, which is accessible in the form of a publicly available web database. We found that 122 miRNAs displayed restricted expression domains in the eye at different developmental stages, with the majority of them expressed in one or more cell layers of the neural retina.ConclusionsThis analysis revealed miRNAs with differential expression in ocular tissues and provided a detailed atlas of their tissue-specific distribution during development of the murine eye. The combination of the two approaches offers a valuable resource to decipher the contributions of specific miRNAs and miRNA clusters to the development of distinct ocular structures.
Highlights
MicroRNAs are key regulators of biological processes
Results and Discussion miRNAs show differential expression in murine eye tissues We decided to define the complete repertoire of miRNAs that are expressed in any of four different eye tissues, i.e. retina, lens, cornea and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)
We found a significant enrichment in several Gene Ontology (GO)/KEGG terms related to neuronal development and function (Additional files 2 and 3), which, considering the neural origin of the eye, is a good indication of the reliability of our analysis
Summary
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of biological processes. MiRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression by binding to target sites in the 3’ UTR of mRNAs. MiRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression by binding to target sites in the 3’ UTR of mRNAs This binding affects the stability and translation of the target transcript [1,2]. MiRNAs are key mediators of basic biological processes. In all plant and animal species examined, defects in miRNA function have profound effects on development [5,6]. Deregulation of miRNA expression caused by mutations in either the miRNA or its
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