Functional analysis of microRNAs in cardiac development of fish species by RNA-Seq and reverse genetics

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play regulatory roles in plants and animals. These molecules inhibit translation through post-transcriptional regulation of messenger RNAs. In vertebrates, miRNAs have been linked to organismal evolution due to the observed correlation between abundance of miRNAs and complexity. Furthermore, miRNAs are key managers in the development and maintenance of specific tissues including the heart. However, studies focusing on the role of miRNAs in cardiac development were mostly carried out on birds and mammals. In fishes, the major group of living vertebrates, a small number of species was evaluated concerning the miRNA composition. The applicability of fish species on functional studies of miRNAs in cardiac development is relevant owing to the conserved ontogeny of vertebrate's heart. This proposal focuses on the identification by RNA-seq following functional characterization of miRNAs related to cardiac development in zebrafish and Nile tilapia. These fish species are commonly used as biological models and have the genome fully sequenced. Thus, from the structural and functional data generated it will be possible to identify the miRNA-mRNA associations accounting for the evolution of cardiac complexity in vertebrates, as well as to contribute with new insights for genetic therapies of cardiac diseases based on miRNAs. (AU)