Human polymorphism at microRNAs and microRNA target sites

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as endogenous translational repressors of protein-coding genes in animals by binding to target sites in the 3' UTRs of mRNAs. Because a single nucleotide change in the sequence of a target site can affect miRNA regulation, naturally occurring SNPs in target sites are candidates for functional variation that may be of interest for biomedical applications and evolutionary studies. However, little is known to date about variation among humans at miRNAs and their target sites. In this study, we analyzed publicly available SNP data in context with miRNAs and their target sites throughout the human genome, and we found a relatively low level of variation in functional regions of miRNAs,…

• NI
  National Institutes of Health