Identification of miRNAs and Their targets in Colorectal Cancer (degradome)

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. The roles of microRNAs (minRNAs) in mRNA destabilization and translational repression of this disease are well appreciated, their involvement in endonucleolytic cleavage of target mRNAs is poorly understood. Methods: Degradome sequencing was used to identify cleaved targets of some regulated miRNAs. Results: A sum of 9685 potential target genes were characterized for 268 conserved miRNAs and a total of 202 potential target genes were identified for 33 novel miRNAs by degradome sequencing. Target genes were further predicted to be involved in proteoglycans in cancer and AMPK signaling pathway. Five pairs of DEmiRNAs and directed target genes were randomly selected and their negative correlations were validated by RT-qPCR. Conclusions: A number of potential genes targeted by miRNAs were identified and endonucleolytic miRNA-directed mRNA cleavages occur in CRC. Our findings may lead to a better understanding of the novel role of miRNA in the gene regulation of CRC. Overall design: Potential targets of miRNAs in CRC were generated by degradome sequencing through Illumina Hiseq 2500