Home LiteratureArticle Details
PMID: 19901979 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Concordant regulation of translation and mRNA abundance for hundreds of targets of a human microRNA.

PLoS biology ·Vol. 7 ·No. 11 ·2009-11-00 ·Pages e1000238

Hendrickson DG, Hogan DJ, McCullough HL, Myers JW, Herschlag D, Ferrell JE, Brown PO

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression posttranscriptionally by interfering with a target mRNA's translation, stability, or both. We sought to dissect the respective contributions of translational inhibition and mRNA decay to microRNA regulation. We identified direct targets of a specific miRNA, miR-124, by virtue of their association with Argonaute proteins, core components of miRNA effector complexes, in response to miR-124 transfection in human tissue culture cells. In parallel, we assessed mRNA levels and obtained translation profiles using a novel global approach to analyze polysomes separated on sucrose gradients. Analysis of translation profiles for approximately 8,000 genes in these proliferative human cells revealed that basic features of translation are similar to those previously observed in rapidly growing Saccharomyces cerevisiae. For approximately 600 mRNAs specifically recruited to Argonaute proteins by miR-124, we found reductions in both the mRNA abundance and inferred translation rate spanning a large dynamic range. The changes in mRNA levels of these miR-124 targets were larger than the changes in translation, with average decreases of 35% and 12%, respectively. Further, there was no identifiable subgroup of mRNA targets for which the translational response was dominant. Both ribosome occupancy (the fraction of a given gene's transcripts associated with ribosomes) and ribosome density (the average number of ribosomes bound per unit length of coding sequence) were selectively reduced for hundreds of miR-124 targets by the presence of miR-124. Changes in protein abundance inferred from the observed changes in mRNA abundance and translation profiles closely matched changes directly determined by Western analysis for 11 of 12 proteins, suggesting that our assays captured most of miR-124-mediated regulation. These results suggest that miRNAs inhibit translation initiation or stimulate ribosome drop-off preferentially near the start site and are not consistent with inhibition of polypeptide elongation, or nascent polypeptide degradation contributing significantly to miRNA-mediated regulation in proliferating HEK293T cells. The observation of concordant changes in mRNA abundance and translational rate for hundreds of miR-124 targets is consistent with a functional link between these two regulatory outcomes of miRNA targeting, and the well-documented interrelationship between translation and mRNA decay.

MeSH Terms
Cell Line Eukaryotic Initiation Factors/metabolism Gene Expression Profiling Gene Expression Regulation Genes Genome, Human Humans MicroRNAs/metabolism Peptide Chain Initiation, Translational Protein Biosynthesis RNA Stability RNA, Messenger/metabolism Ribosomes/metabolism
Chemicals
Eukaryotic Initiation Factors MIRN124 microRNA, human MicroRNAs RNA, Messenger
Authors & Affiliations
7 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Hendrickson David G
Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Hogan Daniel J
McCullough Heather L
Myers Jason W
Herschlag Daniel
Ferrell James E
Brown Patrick O
Conflict of Interest

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References (118)
118 references, click to expand
  1. Unmasking the role of the 3' UTR in the cytoplasmic polyadenylation and translational regulation of maternal mRNAs.
    Bioessays. 1994 Aug;16(8):533-5 PMID: 8086000
  2. MicroRNAs direct rapid deadenylation of mRNA.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Mar 14;103(11):4034-9 PMID: 16495412
  3. The concept of translocational regulation.
    J Cell Biol. 2008 Jul 28;182(2):225-32 PMID: 18644895
  4. Combinatorial microRNA target predictions.
    Nat Genet. 2005 May;37(5):495-500 PMID: 15806104
  5. Sequence requirements for micro RNA processing and function in human cells.
    RNA. 2003 Jan;9(1):112-23 PMID: 12554881
  6. Computational analysis of miRNA-mediated repression of translation: implications for models of translation initiation inhibition.
    RNA. 2008 Aug;14(8):1480-91 PMID: 18579870
  7. Temporal pattern formation by heterochronic genes.
    Annu Rev Genet. 1997;31:611-34 PMID: 9442909
  8. Let me count the ways: mechanisms of gene regulation by miRNAs and siRNAs.
    Mol Cell. 2008 Jan 18;29(1):1-7 PMID: 18206964
  9. General translational repression by activators of mRNA decapping.
    Cell. 2005 Sep 23;122(6):875-86 PMID: 16179257
  10. A biochemical approach to identifying microRNA targets.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Dec 4;104(49):19291-6 PMID: 18042700
  11. Microarray analysis shows that some microRNAs downregulate large numbers of target mRNAs.
    Nature. 2005 Feb 17;433(7027):769-73 PMID: 15685193
  12. Two genetic circuits repress the Caenorhabditis elegans heterochronic gene lin-28 after translation initiation.
    Dev Biol. 2002 Mar 15;243(2):215-25 PMID: 11884032
  13. Uncoupling of lin-14 mRNA and protein repression by nutrient deprivation in Caenorhabditis elegans.
    RNA. 2009 Mar;15(3):400-5 PMID: 19155321
  14. MicroRNAs and small interfering RNAs can inhibit mRNA expression by similar mechanisms.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Aug 19;100(17):9779-84 PMID: 12902540
  15. Comparison of siRNA-induced off-target RNA and protein effects.
    RNA. 2007 Mar;13(3):385-95 PMID: 17237357
  16. Most mammalian mRNAs are conserved targets of microRNAs.
    Genome Res. 2009 Jan;19(1):92-105 PMID: 18955434
  17. An extensive class of small RNAs in Caenorhabditis elegans.
    Science. 2001 Oct 26;294(5543):862-4 PMID: 11679672
  18. Cytoplasmic polyadenylation in development and beyond.
    Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 1999 Jun;63(2):446-56 PMID: 10357857
  19. Visualizing mRNA expression in plant protoplasts: factors influencing efficient mRNA uptake and translation.
    Plant Cell. 1989 Mar;1(3):301-11 PMID: 2535505
  20. Both natural and designed micro RNAs can inhibit the expression of cognate mRNAs when expressed in human cells.
    Mol Cell. 2002 Jun;9(6):1327-33 PMID: 12086629
  21. The 21-nucleotide let-7 RNA regulates developmental timing in Caenorhabditis elegans.
    Nature. 2000 Feb 24;403(6772):901-6 PMID: 10706289
  22. MicroRNA targeting specificity in mammals: determinants beyond seed pairing.
    Mol Cell. 2007 Jul 6;27(1):91-105 PMID: 17612493
  23. N-Terminally extended human ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) mediate the ubiquitination of RING-finger proteins, ARA54 and RNF8.
    Eur J Biochem. 2001 May;268(9):2725-32 PMID: 11322894
  24. Translation repression in human cells by microRNA-induced gene silencing requires RCK/p54.
    PLoS Biol. 2006 Jul;4(7):e210 PMID: 16756390
  25. Recapitulation of short RNA-directed translational gene silencing in vitro.
    Mol Cell. 2006 May 19;22(4):553-60 PMID: 16713585
  26. Effects of Dicer and Argonaute down-regulation on mRNA levels in human HEK293 cells.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2006;34(17):4801-15 PMID: 16971455
  27. MicroRNA-dependent localization of targeted mRNAs to mammalian P-bodies.
    Nat Cell Biol. 2005 Jul;7(7):719-23 PMID: 15937477
  28. Detection of the argonaute protein Ago2 and microRNAs in the RNA induced silencing complex (RISC) using a monoclonal antibody.
    J Immunol Methods. 2006 Dec 20;317(1-2):38-44 PMID: 17054975
  29. siRNAs can function as miRNAs.
    Genes Dev. 2003 Feb 15;17(4):438-42 PMID: 12600936
  30. The human DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 8 and Its D. melanogaster homolog are required for miRNA biogenesis.
    Curr Biol. 2004 Dec 14;14(23):2162-7 PMID: 15589161
  31. Importance of translation and nonnucleolytic ago proteins for on-target RNA interference.
    Curr Biol. 2008 Sep 9;18(17):1327-32 PMID: 18771919
  32. Transcriptional program induced by Wnt protein in human fibroblasts suggests mechanisms for cell cooperativity in defining tissue microenvironments.
    PLoS One. 2007 Sep 26;2(9):e945 PMID: 17895986
  33. MicroRNA functions in animal development and human disease.
    Development. 2005 Nov;132(21):4653-62 PMID: 16224045
  34. The cap and poly(A) tail function synergistically to regulate mRNA translational efficiency.
    Genes Dev. 1991 Nov;5(11):2108-16 PMID: 1682219
  35. The effect of capping and polyadenylation on the stability, movement and translation of synthetic messenger RNAs in Xenopus oocytes.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Oct 25;13(20):7375-94 PMID: 3932972
  36. MicroRNAs to Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2 coding regions modulate embryonic stem cell differentiation.
    Nature. 2008 Oct 23;455(7216):1124-8 PMID: 18806776
  37. A crucial role for GW182 and the DCP1:DCP2 decapping complex in miRNA-mediated gene silencing.
    RNA. 2005 Nov;11(11):1640-7 PMID: 16177138
  38. MicroRNAs repress translation of m7Gppp-capped target mRNAs in vitro by inhibiting initiation and promoting deadenylation.
    Genes Dev. 2007 Aug 15;21(16):1975-82 PMID: 17699746
  39. Transcripts targeted by the microRNA-16 family cooperatively regulate cell cycle progression.
    Mol Cell Biol. 2007 Mar;27(6):2240-52 PMID: 17242205
  40. Fertilization of Xenopus eggs imposes a complete translational arrest of mRNAs containing 3'UUAUUUAU elements.
    FEBS Lett. 1994 May 30;345(2-3):107-12 PMID: 8200440
  41. Let-7 microRNA-mediated mRNA deadenylation and translational repression in a mammalian cell-free system.
    Genes Dev. 2007 Aug 1;21(15):1857-62 PMID: 17671087
  42. Translation and stability of rat liver messenger RNA for alpha 2 mu-globulin in Xenopus oocyte. The role of terminal poly(A).
    J Biol Chem. 1979 Sep 25;254(18):8937-42 PMID: 90045
  43. A role for the P-body component GW182 in microRNA function.
    Nat Cell Biol. 2005 Dec;7(12):1261-6 PMID: 16284623
  44. Interrelationships of the pathways of mRNA decay and translation in eukaryotic cells.
    Annu Rev Biochem. 1996;65:693-739 PMID: 8811193
  45. Nuclease activity associated with mammalian mRNA in its native state: possible basis for selectivity in mRNA decay.
    Mol Cell Biol. 1990 May;10(5):2060-9 PMID: 2325645
  46. Poly(A) and translation: development control.
    Curr Opin Cell Biol. 1993 Dec;5(6):950-4 PMID: 7907491
  47. Faulty old ideas about translational regulation paved the way for current confusion about how microRNAs function.
    Gene. 2008 Nov 1;423(2):108-15 PMID: 18692553
  48. Identification of a translation inhibitory element (TIE) in the 3' untranslated region of the human interferon-beta mRNA.
    Gene. 1988 Dec 10;72(1-2):191-200 PMID: 3243431
  49. Java Treeview--extensible visualization of microarray data.
    Bioinformatics. 2004 Nov 22;20(17):3246-8 PMID: 15180930
  50. Specificity of microRNA target selection in translational repression.
    Genes Dev. 2004 Mar 1;18(5):504-11 PMID: 15014042
  51. The diverse functions of microRNAs in animal development and disease.
    Dev Cell. 2006 Oct;11(4):441-50 PMID: 17011485
  52. The C. elegans heterochronic gene lin-4 encodes small RNAs with antisense complementarity to lin-14.
    Cell. 1993 Dec 3;75(5):843-54 PMID: 8252621
  53. How do microRNAs regulate gene expression?
    Sci STKE. 2007 Jan 02;2007(367):re1 PMID: 17200520
  54. Genome-wide analysis in vivo of translation with nucleotide resolution using ribosome profiling.
    Science. 2009 Apr 10;324(5924):218-23 PMID: 19213877
  55. Evidence that microRNAs are associated with translating messenger RNAs in human cells.
    Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2006 Dec;13(12):1102-7 PMID: 17128271
  56. Relief of microRNA-mediated translational repression in human cells subjected to stress.
    Cell. 2006 Jun 16;125(6):1111-24 PMID: 16777601
  57. A search for conserved sequences in coding regions reveals that the let-7 microRNA targets Dicer within its coding sequence.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Sep 30;105(39):14879-84 PMID: 18812516
  58. The let-7 MicroRNA family members mir-48, mir-84, and mir-241 function together to regulate developmental timing in Caenorhabditis elegans.
    Dev Cell. 2005 Sep;9(3):403-14 PMID: 16139228
  59. The Stanford Microarray Database: implementation of new analysis tools and open source release of software.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2007 Jan;35(Database issue):D766-70 PMID: 17182626
  60. Posttranscriptional regulation of the heterochronic gene lin-14 by lin-4 mediates temporal pattern formation in C. elegans.
    Cell. 1993 Dec 3;75(5):855-62 PMID: 8252622
  61. MicroRNA-repressed mRNAs contain 40S but not 60S components.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Apr 8;105(14):5343-8 PMID: 18390669
  62. The 3' untranslated region of the human interferon-beta mRNA has an inhibitory effect on translation.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Sep;84(17):6030-4 PMID: 3476924
  63. The lin-4 regulatory RNA controls developmental timing in Caenorhabditis elegans by blocking LIN-14 protein synthesis after the initiation of translation.
    Dev Biol. 1999 Dec 15;216(2):671-80 PMID: 10642801
  64. Control of translation and mRNA degradation by miRNAs and siRNAs.
    Genes Dev. 2006 Mar 1;20(5):515-24 PMID: 16510870
  65. Decapping and decay of messenger RNA occur in cytoplasmic processing bodies.
    Science. 2003 May 2;300(5620):805-8 PMID: 12730603
  66. Systematic identification of mRNAs recruited to argonaute 2 by specific microRNAs and corresponding changes in transcript abundance.
    PLoS One. 2008 May 07;3(5):e2126 PMID: 18461144
  67. Target mRNAs are repressed as efficiently by microRNA-binding sites in the 5' UTR as in the 3' UTR.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Jun 5;104(23):9667-72 PMID: 17535905
  68. An mRNA m7G cap binding-like motif within human Ago2 represses translation.
    Cell. 2007 Jun 15;129(6):1141-51 PMID: 17524464
  69. Short RNAs repress translation after initiation in mammalian cells.
    Mol Cell. 2006 Feb 17;21(4):533-42 PMID: 16483934
  70. Isolation of microRNA targets by miRNP immunopurification.
    RNA. 2007 Aug;13(8):1198-204 PMID: 17592038
  71. Ribosome pausing and stacking during translation of a eukaryotic mRNA.
    EMBO J. 1988 Nov;7(11):3559-69 PMID: 2850168
  72. Dissecting eukaryotic translation and its control by ribosome density mapping.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2005 Apr 28;33(8):2421-32 PMID: 15860778
  73. Genome-wide analysis of mRNA translation profiles in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Apr 1;100(7):3889-94 PMID: 12660367
  74. Human let-7a miRNA blocks protein production on actively translating polyribosomes.
    Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2006 Dec;13(12):1108-14 PMID: 17128272
  75. MicroRNAs control translation initiation by inhibiting eukaryotic initiation factor 4E/cap and poly(A) tail function.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Nov 22;102(47):16961-6 PMID: 16287976
  76. Widespread changes in protein synthesis induced by microRNAs.
    Nature. 2008 Sep 4;455(7209):58-63 PMID: 18668040
  77. A maternal tail of poly(A): the long and the short of it.
    Cell. 1992 Jun 12;69(6):895-7 PMID: 1606613
  78. MicroRNA inhibition of translation initiation in vitro by targeting the cap-binding complex eIF4F.
    Science. 2007 Sep 21;317(5845):1764-7 PMID: 17656684
  79. MicroRNA expression profiles classify human cancers.
    Nature. 2005 Jun 9;435(7043):834-8 PMID: 15944708
  80. The developmental timing regulator AIN-1 interacts with miRISCs and may target the argonaute protein ALG-1 to cytoplasmic P bodies in C. elegans.
    Mol Cell. 2005 Aug 19;19(4):437-47 PMID: 16109369
  81. Cluster analysis and display of genome-wide expression patterns.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Dec 8;95(25):14863-8 PMID: 9843981
  82. Purification of a human polyribosome-associated 3' to 5' exoribonuclease.
    J Biol Chem. 1994 Dec 16;269(50):31814-21 PMID: 7989354
  83. Repression of C. elegans microRNA targets at the initiation level of translation requires GW182 proteins.
    EMBO J. 2009 Feb 4;28(3):213-22 PMID: 19131968
  84. Mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation by microRNAs: are the answers in sight?
    Nat Rev Genet. 2008 Feb;9(2):102-14 PMID: 18197166
  85. Conserved seed pairing, often flanked by adenosines, indicates that thousands of human genes are microRNA targets.
    Cell. 2005 Jan 14;120(1):15-20 PMID: 15652477
  86. Zebrafish MiR-430 promotes deadenylation and clearance of maternal mRNAs.
    Science. 2006 Apr 7;312(5770):75-9 PMID: 16484454
  87. Principles of microRNA-target recognition.
    PLoS Biol. 2005 Mar;3(3):e85 PMID: 15723116
  88. The functions of animal microRNAs.
    Nature. 2004 Sep 16;431(7006):350-5 PMID: 15372042
  89. Prediction of mammalian microRNA targets.
    Cell. 2003 Dec 26;115(7):787-98 PMID: 14697198
  90. Stem cell division is regulated by the microRNA pathway.
    Nature. 2005 Jun 16;435(7044):974-8 PMID: 15944714
  91. Drosophila miR2 induces pseudo-polysomes and inhibits translation initiation.
    Nature. 2007 Jun 14;447(7146):875-8 PMID: 17507927
  92. Effects of atmospheric ozone on microarray data quality.
    Anal Chem. 2003 Sep 1;75(17):4672-5 PMID: 14632079
  93. Identification of human microRNA targets from isolated argonaute protein complexes.
    RNA Biol. 2007 Jun;4(2):76-84 PMID: 17637574
  94. Mutations in translation initiation factors lead to increased rates of deadenylation and decapping of mRNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
    Mol Cell Biol. 1999 Aug;19(8):5247-56 PMID: 10409716
  95. Global mRNA stabilization preferentially linked to translational repression during the endoplasmic reticulum stress response.
    Mol Cell Biol. 2004 Aug;24(15):6773-87 PMID: 15254244
  96. mRNA degradation by miRNAs and GW182 requires both CCR4:NOT deadenylase and DCP1:DCP2 decapping complexes.
    Genes Dev. 2006 Jul 15;20(14):1885-98 PMID: 16815998
  97. Ubiquitin protein ligase activity of IAPs and their degradation in proteasomes in response to apoptotic stimuli.
    Science. 2000 May 5;288(5467):874-7 PMID: 10797013
  98. Micro-RNA regulation of the mammalian lin-28 gene during neuronal differentiation of embryonal carcinoma cells.
    Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Nov;25(21):9198-208 PMID: 16227573
  99. Translational regulation of human beta interferon mRNA: association of the 3' AU-rich sequence with the poly(A) tail reduces translation efficiency in vitro.
    Mol Cell Biol. 1993 Jun;13(6):3487-93 PMID: 7684500
  100. Mechanisms of microRNA-mediated gene regulation in animal cells.
    Trends Genet. 2007 May;23(5):243-9 PMID: 17368621
  101. MicroRNAs: genomics, biogenesis, mechanism, and function.
    Cell. 2004 Jan 23;116(2):281-97 PMID: 14744438
  102. Target-specific requirements for enhancers of decapping in miRNA-mediated gene silencing.
    Genes Dev. 2007 Oct 15;21(20):2558-70 PMID: 17901217
  103. Translational blockade imposed by cytokine-derived UA-rich sequences.
    Science. 1989 Aug 25;245(4920):852-5 PMID: 2672333
  104. Regulation by let-7 and lin-4 miRNAs results in target mRNA degradation.
    Cell. 2005 Aug 26;122(4):553-63 PMID: 16122423
  105. Systematic discovery of regulatory motifs in human promoters and 3' UTRs by comparison of several mammals.
    Nature. 2005 Mar 17;434(7031):338-45 PMID: 15735639
  106. Connecting microRNA genes to the core transcriptional regulatory circuitry of embryonic stem cells.
    Cell. 2008 Aug 8;134(3):521-33 PMID: 18692474
  107. Messenger RNA regulation: to translate or to degrade.
    EMBO J. 2008 Feb 6;27(3):471-81 PMID: 18256698
  108. The impact of microRNAs on protein output.
    Nature. 2008 Sep 4;455(7209):64-71 PMID: 18668037
  109. Early origins and evolution of microRNAs and Piwi-interacting RNAs in animals.
    Nature. 2008 Oct 30;455(7217):1193-7 PMID: 18830242
  110. The widespread impact of mammalian MicroRNAs on mRNA repression and evolution.
    Science. 2005 Dec 16;310(5755):1817-21 PMID: 16308420
  111. MicroRNA targets in Drosophila.
    Genome Biol. 2003;5(1):R1 PMID: 14709173
  112. Discovery of functional elements in 12 Drosophila genomes using evolutionary signatures.
    Nature. 2007 Nov 8;450(7167):219-32 PMID: 17994088
  113. The mechanism of micro-RNA-mediated translation repression is determined by the promoter of the target gene.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Jul 1;105(26):8866-71 PMID: 18579786
  114. Inhibition of translational initiation by Let-7 MicroRNA in human cells.
    Science. 2005 Sep 2;309(5740):1573-6 PMID: 16081698
  115. Turnover mechanisms of the stable yeast PGK1 mRNA.
    Mol Cell Biol. 1995 Apr;15(4):2145-56 PMID: 7891709
  116. GeneTrail--advanced gene set enrichment analysis.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2007 Jul;35(Web Server issue):W186-92 PMID: 17526521
  117. Deadenylation is a widespread effect of miRNA regulation.
    RNA. 2009 Jan;15(1):21-32 PMID: 19029310
  118. Mdm2 is a RING finger-dependent ubiquitin protein ligase for itself and p53.
    J Biol Chem. 2000 Mar 24;275(12):8945-51 PMID: 10722742
Article Info
Journal
PLoS biology
Abbr.
PLoS Biol
ISSN
1545-7885
Published
2009-11-00
Epub
2009-00-10
Pages
e1000238
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
101183755
PMCID
PMC2766070
Subset
IM
Grants
NCI NIH HHS · R01 CA077097 · United States
NCI NIH HHS · T32 CA009151 · United States
Howard Hughes Medical Institute · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM46383 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM046383 · United States
NCI NIH HHS · R01 CA77097-08 · United States
NHGRI NIH HHS · T32 HG000044 · United States
NHGRI NIH HHS · K22 HG000044 · United States
NHGRI NIH HHS · HG00044 · United States
NCI NIH HHS · 2T32CA09151 · United States
Analysis Services
Analysis Services

Contact

No. 2 Wenbo Road, Zhangqiu District, Jinan, Shandong

Qilu Normal University · Genelibs Bioinformatics Lab

750 Shunhua Rd, Jinan

2F, Bldg F, University Science Park

Tel: 0531-88819269

WeChat Official Account

Follow our WeChat subscription account for real-time updates and the latest in medical and biological research.


Business Email

E-mail: [email protected]