title: Screening and validation of lncRNAs and circRNAs as miRNA sponges.
abstract: Intensive research in past two decades has uncovered the presence and importance of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), which includes microRNAs (miRs) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs). These two classes of ncRNAs interact to a certain extent, as some lncRNAs bind to miRs to sequester them. Such lncRNAs are collectively called 'competing endogenous RNAs' or 'miRNA sponges'. In this study, we screened for lncRNAs that may act as miRNA sponges using the publicly available data sets and databases. To uncover the roles of miRNA sponges, loss-of-function experiments were conducted, which revealed the biological roles as miRNA sponges. LINC00324 is important for the cell survival by binding to miR-615-5p leading to the de-repression of its target BTG2. LOC400043 controls several biological functions via sequestering miR-28-3p and miR-96-5p, thereby changing the expressions of transcriptional regulators. Finally, we also screened for circular RNAs (circRNAs) that may function as miRNA sponges. The results were negative at least for the selected circRNAs in this study. In conclusion, miRNA sponges can be identified by applying a series of bioinformatics techniques and validated with biological experiments.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Militello
authors.forename: Tyler
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Weirick
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Döring
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dimmeler
authors.forename: Shizuka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uchida
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology; D035683:MicroRNAs; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding
keywords: circular RNA; lncRNA; microRNA; transcriptome