INVESTIGADORES
MACCHIAROLI Natalia
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Prediction of microRNA targets in Echinococcus
Autor/es:
NATALIA MACCHIAROLI; LUCAS MALDONADO; MARCELA CUCHER; MARA ROSENZVIT; LAURA KAMENETZKY
Lugar:
Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Reunión:
Conferencia; ISCB-LA A2B2C Bioinformatics Conference; 2016
Institución organizadora:
ISCB-LA A2B2C
Resumen:
Prediction of microRNA targets in Echinococcus N Macchiaroli1, L Maldonado1, M Cucher1, M Rosenzvit1, L Kamenetzky11IMPaM (UBA-CONICET)Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, are key regulators of gene expression at post-transcriptional level and play essential roles in biological processes such as development. MiRNAs silence target mRNAs by binding to complementary sequences in the 3?untranslated regions (UTRs). The parasitic helminths of the genus Echinococcus are the causative agents of echinococcosis, a zoonotic neglected disease. In previous works, we performed a comprehensive identification and characterization of Echinococcus miRNAs. However, current knowledge about their targets is limited. Since target prediction algorithms rely on complementarity between 3?UTRs and miRNA sequences, a major challenge is the lack of accurate sequence information of 3?UTR for most species including parasitic helminths. The aim of this study is to define a set of 3?UTRs and to predict miRNA targets in Echinococcus through a bioinformatics approach. Results Using a pipeline that integrates genomic and transcriptomic data we generated a high-quality 3?UTR data set in Echinococcus. Bioinformatics prediction identified 941 potential miRNA target sites distributed in 724 3?UTRs. Most of them were found to be conserved among Echinococcus species, adding confidence to the predictions obtained. Functional analysis of miRNA targets showed that MAPK and Wnt signalling pathways were among the most represented pathways suggesting miRNA roles in parasite growth and development.Conclusions Genome-wide identification and characterization of miRNA target genes in Echinococcus will provide valuable information to guide experimental studies in order to understand miRNA functions in parasite biology. MiRNAs involved in essential functions could be considered as novel therapeutic targets for echinococcosis control. Supported by: MinCyT-CAPES, FONCYT-ANPCYT, CONICET