title: The miR-125 family is an important regulator of the expression and maintenance of maternal effect genes during preimplantational embryo development.
abstract: Previously, we reported that Sebox is a new maternal effect gene (MEG) that is required for early embryo development beyond the two-cell (2C) stage because this gene orchestrates the expression of important genes for zygotic genome activation (ZGA). However, regulators of Sebox expression remain unknown. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to use bioinformatics tools to identify such regulatory microRNAs (miRNAs) and to determine the effects of the identified miRNAs on Sebox expression. Using computational algorithms, we identified a motif within the 3'UTR of Sebox mRNA that is specific to the seed region of the miR-125 family, which includes miR-125a-5p, miR-125b-5p and miR-351-5p. During our search for miRNAs, we found that the Lin28a 3'UTR also contains the same binding motif for the seed region of the miR-125 family. In addition, we confirmed that Lin28a also plays a role as a MEG and affects ZGA at the 2C stage, without affecting oocyte maturation or fertilization. Thus, we provide the first report indicating that the miR-125 family plays a crucial role in regulating MEGs related to the 2C block and in regulating ZGA through methods such as affecting Sebox and Lin28a in oocytes and embryos.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pangyo, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kyeoung-Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Histology-Developmental Biology, School of Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: You-Mi
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pangyo, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pangyo, South Korea.
authors.forename: Su-Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pangyo, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jini
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pangyo, South Korea highko@cha.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jung-Jae
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pangyo, South Korea leeka@cha.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Kyung-Ah
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6166-5012
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst; D002460:Cell Line; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D000072741:Maternal Inheritance; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C488352:Lin-28 protein, mouse; D035683:MicroRNAs; C485871:Og9x protein, mouse; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins
keywords: Lin28a; Sebox; bioinformatics; miR-125 family; translational regulation