mRNA and microRNA transcriptomes of pediatric thyroid cancers harboring DICER1 RNase IIIb domain mutation

DICER1 is a highly conserved RNase III endoribonuclease essential for thebiogenesis of single-stranded mature microRNAs (miRNAs) from stem-loopprecursor miRNAs. Somatic mutations in the RNase IIIb domain of DICER1impair its ability to generate mature 5p miRNAs and are believed to drivetumorigenesis in DICER1 syndrome-associated and sporadic thyroid tumors.Here we profiled the miRNA (n=2,083) and mRNA (n=2,559) transcriptomes of nonneoplastic thyroids and pediatric thyroid cancers harboring DICER1 RNase IIIb mutations. Our goal was to explore the DICER1-driven specific changes in miRNAs and resulting changes in gene expression.