Understanding functional miRNA-target interactions in vivo by site-specific genome engineering.
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Bassett AR, Azzam G, Wheatley L, Tibbit C, Rajakumar T, McGowan S, Stanger N, Ewels PA, Taylor S, Ponting CP, Liu JL, Sauka-Spengler T, Fulga TA
Nat Commun 5 (-) 4640 [2014-08-19; online 2014-08-19]
MicroRNA (miRNA) target recognition is largely dictated by short 'seed' sequences, and single miRNAs therefore have the potential to regulate a large number of genes. Understanding the contribution of specific miRNA-target interactions to the regulation of biological processes in vivo remains challenging. Here we use transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 technologies to interrogate the functional relevance of predicted miRNA response elements (MREs) to post-transcriptional silencing in zebrafish and Drosophila. We also demonstrate an effective strategy that uses CRISPR-mediated homology-directed repair with short oligonucleotide donors for the assessment of MRE activity in human cells. These methods facilitate analysis of the direct phenotypic consequences resulting from blocking specific miRNA-MRE interactions at any point during development.
PubMed 25135198
DOI 10.1038/ncomms5640
Crossref 10.1038/ncomms5640
pii: ncomms5640
pmc: PMC4143950