title: MicroRNA profiling of rhesus macaque embryonic stem cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and pluripotency. Numerous studies have revealed human and mouse ESC miRNA profiles. As a model for human-related study, the rhesus macaque is ideal for delineating the regulatory mechanisms of miRNAs in ESCs. However, studies on rhesus macaque (r)ESCs are lacking due to limited rESC availability and a need for systematic analyses of fundamental rESC characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We established three rESC lines and profiled microRNA using Solexa sequencing resulting in 304 known and 66 novel miRNAs. MiRNA profiles were highly conserved between rESC lines and predicted target genes were significantly enriched in differentiation pathways. Further analysis of the miRNA-target network indicated that gene expression regulated by miRNAs was negatively correlated to their evolutionary rate in rESCs. Moreover, a cross-species comparison revealed an overall conservation of miRNA expression patterns between human, mouse and rhesus macaque ESCs. However, we identified three miRNA clusters (miR-467, the miRNA cluster in the imprinted Dlk1-Dio3 region and C19MC) that showed clear interspecies differences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  rESCs share a unique miRNA set that may play critical roles in self-renewal and pluripotency. MiRNA expression patterns are generally conserved between species. However, species and/or lineage specific miRNA regulation changed during evolution.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
authors.forename: Zhenghua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiechao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Weizhi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D005810:Multigene Family; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D035683:MicroRNAs; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase