Effects of hsa-miR-744-5p on neurite outgrowth in human iPSC derived neurons

Emerging studies have indicated an important role for specific miRNA in neural differentiation, proliferation, and maturation during embryonic development and disease progression using neurite outgrowth assays. To ascertain the neuronal function and molecular mechanism of hsa-miR-744-5p, we differentiated hiPSCs to neurons and infected them with lentivirus-miR-744-5p or scrambled control. RNA-seq data may partly demonstrate secondary effects on global mRNA expression, while gene expression changes are triggered by primary miRNA targets. Therefore, to discriminate between primary and secondary target genes, the differential expression results obtained from the RNA-seq analysis were compared to potential hsa-miR-744-5p targets predicted by bioinformatic algorithms.