The uniqueness of miR-93-5p microRNAs

miR-93-5p microRNA in prostate cancer retains a similar set of targets even with the formation of 5’ isoforms. This indicates the stability of its regulatory function to structural variations.

The results are published in the journal PeerJ

© PeerJ

A study by the staff of the International Laboratory of Microphysiological Systems of the National Research University Higher School of Economics on the peculiarities of miR-93-5p microRNA in prostate adenocarcinoma has been published.
MicroRNAs regulate gene expression by binding to messenger RNAs (mRNAs) through the so-called seed region. With alternative processing of microRNA precursors, 5’ isoforms with a modified sequence of the seed region can be formed, which theoretically should change the set of target genes. However, a different pattern was found for miR-93-5p.
Experiments on a cell line with overexpression of 5’ isoforms (+3/+4 ), this microRNA showed suppression of 54 mRNAs. Analysis of patient tumor samples (TCGA data) demonstrated that most of the same genes negatively correlate with the canonical form of miR-93-5p. This coincidence is explained by the simultaneous presence of both canonical and displaced seed motifs in the same mRNA targets. It is noteworthy that miR-93-5p was among the most highly expressed microRNAs in prostate cancer cells with a relatively large number of target transcripts containing both seed motifs.
These results suggest the existence of a "dual targeting architecture" in which the canonical form of the microRNA and its 5' isoforms enhance the suppression of the same transcripts. This may explain the stable oncogenic role of miR-93-5p in prostate cancer and its promise as a potential biomarker of disease progression.
The results were published on February 16 in the journal PeerJ.