mRNAs competing for microRNAs mutually influence their fluctuations in a microRNA-dependent manner

by Carla Bosia (HuGeF (Human Genetics Foundation-Torino))

Tuesday 26 Apr 2016, 13:30 → 14:30 Europe/Stockholm

112:028

Different studies reported complex interplay among targets of a common pool of microRNAs, a class of small non-coding post-transcriptional downregulators. Behaving as microRNA-sponges, distinct RNA species may compete for binding to microRNAs and coregulate each other. The detailed aspects of this process remain unclear. With an experimental design based on two bidirectional plasmids and flow cytometry measurements of cotransfected mammalian cells, for the first time, we validated a stochastic gene interaction model that describes how mRNAs can influence eachother's fluctuations in a microRNA-dependent manner. We show that microRNA-target correlations eventually lead to bimodal cell population distributions with high and low target expression states or to targets fluctuating synchronously if a maximum of the correlation exists. We found that there is an optimal range of conditions of crossregulation compatible with 10-1000 copies of targets per cell.