miRNA Resources

miRNA databases are useful resources for miRNA

• The miRBase Sequence Database is a searchable database of published miRNA sequences and annotation. The data were previously provided by the miRNA Registry.

• The miRBase Registry continues to provide gene hunters with unique names for novel miRNA genes prior to publication of results.

• The miRBase Targets database is a new resource of predicted miRNA targets in animals.

Each entry in the miRBase Sequence database represents a predicted hairpin portion of a miRNA transcript (termed mir in the database), with information on the location and sequence of the mature miRNA sequence (termed miR). Both hairpin and mature sequences are available for searching using BLAST and SSEARCH, and entries can also be retrieved by name, keyword, references and annotation. All sequence and annotation data are also available for download.

Example of a solved solution structure for an miRNA is the let-7 miRNA structure from the let-7 miRNA:lin-41 mRNA complex from C. elegans.

 
Let-7 microRNA regulates heterochronic genes in the nematode Caenorhafitis elegans involved indevelopmental timing. The NMR structure of a 33-nt RNA construct mimiking the interaction of let-7 miRNA with its complementary site (LCS 2) in the 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) of lin-41 mRNA was solved by Cevec et al. in 2008.

Reference

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18296482

Cevec M, Thibaudeau C, Plavec J.; Solution structure of a let-7 miRNA:lin-41 mRNA complex from C. elegans. Nucleic Acids Res. 2008 Apr;36(7):2330-7. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkn088. Epub 2008 Feb 22.

-.-