Tissue-specific Regulation of Mouse MicroRNA Genes in Endodermally-Derived Tissues

MicroRNAs fine-tune the activity of hundreds of protein-coding genes. The identification of tissue-specific microRNAs and their promoters has been constrained by the limited sensitivity of prior microRNA quantification methods. Here we determine the entire microRNAome of three endoderm-derived tissues, liver, small intestine, and pancreas, using ultra-high throughput sequencing. Although many microRNA genes are expressed at comparable levels, 162 microRNAs exhibited striking tissue-specificity. After mapping the promoters for these microRNA genes using H3K4me3 histone occupancy, we analyzed the regulatory modules of 63 microRNAs differentially expressed between liver and small intestine or pancreas. We determined that the same transcriptional regulatory mechanisms govern tissue-specific gene expression of both mRNA and microRNA encoding genes in mammals.