CD Genomics is dedicated to partnering with you to determine the optimal solution or technology to suit your specific pri-miRNA/miRNA research project. We have developed advanced and flexible platforms utilizing mass spectrometry (MS) or next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to help you deepen the understanding of pri-miRNA biology.
Overview of pri-miRNAs
microRNAs (miRNAs) are a type of small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that play vital roles in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression via base-pairing with complementary sequences within mRNA molecules. They are processed from hairpin-containing primary transcripts (pri-miRNA). Several features of pri-miRNA hairpins, such as the presence of some sequence motifs (like the CNNC motif and the UG motif) and apical loop sizes of ~3-23 nucleotides, seem to regulate efficient pri-miRNA processing. In animal cells, pri-miRNAs are processed into pre-miRNAs in the nucleus, and are then transported into the cytoplasm, where they are further processed to release an ~21 nucleotides duplex formed to form mature miRNAs. The pri-miRNA sequence contains one or more stem-loop sequences, each containing mature miRNA sequences. Previous studies found that many pri-miRNAs undergo alternative processing, forming various miRNA isoforms. DNA methylation can regulate miRNA biogenesis. For example, methylation influences the splicing machinery by mediating the binding of proteins. Methylation levels over miRNA genomic regions are significantly higher than those over protein coding genes. And miRNAs encoded by the highly methylated DNA are more perturbed upon changes. CD Genomics offers a range of services to study pri-miRNAs, including their modification, variations, processing and function.
Characteristics of pri-miRNAs
The pri-miRNAs may harbor various modifications such as m1A, m6A, m5C, m7G, ac4C and 2'-O-Methylation.
The most distinguishing feature is an optimal stem length (33–39 nucleotides).
The pri-miRNAs contain some primary sequence motif like the CNNC motif and the UG motif.
The pri-miRNA containing an miRNA-embedded hairpin is processed into an miRNA precursor and undergoes further processing into a mature miRNA.
Our Solutions for Comprehensive pri-miRNA Research
We provide integrative primiRNA solutions for comprehensive pri-miRNA studies. We primarily employ next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches and bioinformatics tools to enrich pri-miRNA sequences, detect variations and methylation and reveal the processing and function of pri-miRNAs.
pri-miRNA Sequence
We provide RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to detect pri-miRNA sequences at single nucleotide resolution, allowing the detection of sequence variations and prediction of processing.
We offer deep RNA sequencing to quantify pri-miRNA expression levels between different samples or under different conditions, allowing identification of differentially expressed pri-miRNAs and predict their functions.
