Bioinformatic analysis of microRNA biogenesis and function related proteins in eleven animal genomes.
MicroRNAs are approximately 22 nt long small non-coding RNAs that play important regulatory roles in eukaryotes. The biogenesis and functional processes of microRNAs require the participation of many proteins, of which, the well studied ones are Dicer, Drosha, Argonaute and Exportin 5. To systematically study these four protein families, we screened 11 animal genomes to search for genes encoding above mentioned proteins, and identified some new members for each family. Domain analysis results revealed that most proteins within the same family share identical or similar domains. Alternative spliced transcript variants were found for some proteins. We also examined the expression patterns of these proteins in different human tissues and identified other proteins that could potentially interact with these proteins. These findings provided systematic information on the four key proteins involved in microRNA biogenesis and functional pathways in animals, and will shed light on further functional studies of these proteins.
College of Life Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China.
Xiuying
X
Liu
GuanZheng
G
Luo
Xiujuan
X
Bai
Xiu-Jie
XJ
Wang
D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D019295:Computational Biology; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016678:Genome; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D021381:Protein Transport; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
D035683:MicroRNAs; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger