title: miRNA Nomenclature: A View Incorporating Genetic Origins, Biosynthetic Pathways, and Sequence Variants.
abstract: High-throughput sequencing of miRNAs has revealed the diversity and variability of mature and functional short noncoding RNAs, including their genomic origins, biogenesis pathways, sequence variability, and newly identified products such as miRNA-offset RNAs (moRs). Here we review known cases of alternative mature miRNA-like RNA fragments and propose a revised definition of miRNAs to encompass this diversity. We then review nomenclature guidelines for miRNAs and propose to extend nomenclature conventions to align with those for protein-coding genes established by international consortia. Finally, we suggest a system to encompass the full complexity of sequence variations (i.e., isomiRs) in the analysis of small RNA sequencing experiments.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Desvignes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Batzel
authors.affiliation: European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Berezikov
authors.affiliation: Utah Science, Technology, and Research Center for Genetic Discovery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eilbeck
authors.affiliation: Mouse Genome Informatics, The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Eppig
authors.affiliation: Mouse Genome Informatics, The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: McAndrews
authors.affiliation: ZFIN, 5291 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5291, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. Electronic address: jpostle@uoneuro.uoregon.edu.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Postlethwait
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000235:genetics*; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020733:RNA, Small Cytoplasmic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D043244:Ribonuclease III / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D059467:Transcriptome; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D020733:RNA, Small Cytoplasmic; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; C509781:Dicer1 protein, mouse; C513400:Drosha protein, mouse; D043244:Ribonuclease III; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases
keywords: isomiR; loop-origin miRNAs; miRNA cluster; miRNA-seq; moR; noncoding RNA