Genetic variants in microRNA genes: impact on microRNA expression, function, and disease

Sophia Cammaerts; Mojca Strazisar; Peter De Rijk; Jurgen Del Favero

doi:10.3389/fgene.2015.00186

Genetic variants in microRNA genes: impact on microRNA expression, function, and disease

Front Genet. 2015 May 21:6:186. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00186. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Sophia Cammaerts¹, Mojca Strazisar¹, Peter De Rijk¹, Jurgen Del Favero²

Affiliations

¹ Applied Molecular Genomics Unit, Department of Molecular Genetics, VIB, University of Antwerp Antwerp, Belgium.
² Applied Molecular Genomics Unit, Department of Molecular Genetics, VIB, University of Antwerp Antwerp, Belgium ; Multiplicom N.V., Niel Belgium.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression and like any other gene, their coding sequences are subject to genetic variation. Variants in miRNA genes can have profound effects on miRNA functionality at all levels, including miRNA transcription, maturation, and target specificity, and as such they can also contribute to disease. The impact of variants in miRNA genes is the focus of the present review. To put these effects into context, we first discuss the requirements of miRNA transcripts for maturation. In the last part an overview of available databases and tools and experimental approaches to investigate miRNA variants related to human disease is presented.

Keywords: disease; expression; function; genetic variants; microRNA.

Publication types

Review