Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an evolutionary conserved class of short, single-stranded noncoding RNAs (<18–22 nt in length) that act in posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression in higher eukaryotes. The abundance of a miRNA is a key feature in control of its activity and, therefore, a number of mechanisms finely regulate miRNA levels, acting at both transcriptional and posttranscriptional level. Recent evidences, including our research, highlighted the role of miRNA decay as a mechanism controlling the miRNA pool. We describe in this chapter an optimized methodology to determine miRNA degradation rates in mammalian cells. Our approach is based on metabolic pulse labeling with 4-thiouridine (4sU), a uridine analog that is incorporated in nascent RNA and allows thiol-specific biotinylation and selective pull-down of labeled RNA. In particular, given the long average half-life and the complex biogenetic process of miRNAs, we developed a “pulse-chase” protocol where 4sU is removed from the medium after a long labeling period (2–3 h pulse), and labeled RNA is purified at different time points to measure the decay of labeled molecules. By combining the 4sU-based “pulse-chase” approach with high-throughput small RNA sequencing (sRNAseq), it is possible to quantify at genome-wide level miRNA degradation rates.
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Marzi, M.J., Nicassio, F. (2018). Uncovering the Stability of Mature miRNAs by 4-Thio-Uridine Metabolic Labeling. In: Ørom, U. (eds) miRNA Biogenesis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1823. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8624-8_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8624-8_11
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