Comprehensive analysis of microRNA expression in the human developing brain reveals microRNA-10 as a caudalizing factor

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in regulating multiple processes during brain development in various species. However, the function of miRNAs in human brain development remains largely unexplored. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of miRNA expression of regionalized neural progenitor cells derived from human embryonic stem cells and human fetal brain. We found that several miRNAs displaying both age-specific and region-specific expression patterns. Among these miRNAs we identified miR-10 to be specifically expressed in the human hindbrain and spinal cord, while absent from rostral regions. Gain-of-function experiments further demonstrated that miR-10 alone could drive caudalization of human neural progenitors cells. Together, these data confirms a role for miRNAs in establishing different human neural progenitor populations. This data set also provides a comprehensive resource for future studies investigating the functional role of different miRNAs in human brain development Overall design: MicroRNA sequencing of 34 samples from human embryonic stem cells and human fetal brains.