A computational modeling of primary-microRNA expression

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in gene regulation. Most studies so far focus on mature miRNAs, which leaves many gaps in our knowledge in primary miRNAs (pri-miRNA). To fill these gaps, we attempted to model the expression of pri-miRNAs in 1829 primary cell types and tissues in this study. We demonstrated that the expression of their associated mRNAs could model the expression of the pri-miRNAs well. These associated mRNAs are different from their corresponding target mRNAs and are enriched with specific functions. The majority of the associated mRNAs of a miRNA are shared across conditions, although a fraction of the associated mRNAs are condition-specific. Our study shed new light on the understanding of miRNA biogenesis and general gene transcriptional regulation.