title: Identification of cis- and trans-regulatory variation modulating microRNA expression levels in human fibroblasts.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulatory noncoding RNAs that affect the production of a significant fraction of human mRNAs via post-transcriptional regulation. Interindividual variation of the miRNA expression levels is likely to influence the expression of miRNA target genes and may therefore contribute to phenotypic differences in humans, including susceptibility to common disorders. The extent to which miRNA levels are genetically controlled is largely unknown. In this report, we assayed the expression levels of miRNAs in primary fibroblasts from 180 European newborns of the GenCord project and performed association analysis to identify eQTLs (expression quantitative traits loci). We detected robust expression for 121 miRNAs out of 365 interrogated. We have identified significant cis- (10%) and trans- (11%) eQTLs. Furthermore, we detected one genomic locus (rs1522653) that influences the expression levels of five miRNAs, thus unraveling a novel mechanism for coregulation of miRNA expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Geneva 1211, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Borel
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Letourneau
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Migliavacca
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.forename: Antigone S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Dimas
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Vejnar
authors.forename: Homa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Attar
authors.forename: Maryline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gagnebin
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gehrig
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Falconnet
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dupré
authors.forename: Emmanouil T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Dermitzakis
authors.forename: Stylianos E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Antonarakis
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D005060:Europe; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D014644:Genetic Variation; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs