MicroRNAs are endogenous ∼23-nucleotide RNAs that can pair to sites in the messenger RNAs of protein-coding genes to downregulate the expression from these messages. MicroRNAs are known to influence the evolution and stability of many mRNAs, but their global impact on protein output had not been examined. Here we use quantitative mass spectrometry to measure the response of thousands of proteins after introducing microRNAs into cultured cells and after deleting mir-223 in mouse neutrophils. The identities of the responsive proteins indicate that targeting is primarily through seed-matched sites located within favourable predicted contexts in 3′ untranslated regions. Hundreds of genes were directly repressed, albeit each to a modest degree, by individual microRNAs. Although some targets were repressed without detectable changes in mRNA levels, those translationally repressed by more than a third also displayed detectable mRNA destabilization, and, for the more highly repressed targets, mRNA destabilization usually comprised the major component of repression. The impact of microRNAs on the proteome indicated that for most interactions microRNAs act as rheostats to make fine-scale adjustments to protein output.Large-scale approaches for studying the regulatory effects of microRNAs (miRNAs) have revealed important insights into target recognition and function. These approaches include computational analysis of the selective maintenance or avoidance of miRNA complementary sites during evolution [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and experimental identification of messages destabilized or those preferentially associated with argonaute proteins in the presence of a miRNA [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] . Despite their utility, none of these approaches directly measures the influence of a miRNA on protein output, which is the most relevant readout of its regulatory effects. The influence of miRNAs on protein output has instead been limited to single-protein analyses, primarily immunoblotting and reporter assays, and a medium-size proteomics analysis with detection of 504 proteins 16 . ©2008 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reservedCorrespondence and requests for materials should be addressed to S.P.G. (steven_gygi@hms.harvard.edu) or D.P.B (dbartel@wi.mit.edu).. * These authors contributed equally to this work. Author Contributions The order of listing of the first three authors is arbitrary. C.S. and F.C. performed the experimental work with cells and animals. J.V. performed the mass spectrometry and associated computational analysis. D.B. performed the computational analysis of targeting. All authors contributed to the design of the study and preparation of the manuscript. Author Information Array data and small RNA sequencing data were deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) under accession number GSE12075. NIH Public Access Proteomic consequences of added miRNAsTo acquire data sufficient to investigate the effects of miRNA regulation on the proteome, we applied a quantitative-ma...

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Most metazoan microRNAs (miRNAs) target many genes for repression, but the nematode lsy-6 miRNA is much less proficient. Here, we show that the low proficiency of lsy-6 can be recapitulated in HeLa cells and that miR-23 (a mammalian miRNA) also has low proficiency in these cells. Reporter results and array data both indicate two properties of these miRNAs that impart low proficiency: their weak predicted seed-pairing stability (SPS) and their high target-site abundance (TA). These two properties also explain differential propensities of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to repress unintended targets. Using these insights, we expand the TargetScan tool for quantitatively predicting miRNA regulation (and siRNA off-targeting) so as to model differential miRNA (siRNA) proficiencies, thereby improving prediction performance. Moreover, we propose that siRNAs designed to have both weaker SPS and higher TA will have fewer off-targets without compromised on-target activity.

In the Drosophila and mammalian RNA interference pathways, siRNAs direct the protein Argonaute2 (Ago2) to cleave corresponding mRNA targets, silencing their expression. Ago2 is the catalytic component of the RNAi enzyme complex, RISC. For each siRNA duplex, only one strand, the guide, is assembled into the active RISC; the other strand, the passenger, is destroyed. An ATP-dependent helicase has been proposed first to separate the two siRNA strands, then the resulting single-stranded guide is thought to bind Ago2. Here, we show that Ago2 instead directly receives the double-stranded siRNA from the RISC assembly machinery. Ago2 then cleaves the siRNA passenger strand, thereby liberating the single-stranded guide. For siRNAs, virtually all RISC is assembled through this cleavage-assisted mechanism. In contrast, passenger-strand cleavage is not important for the incorporation of miRNAs that derive from mismatched duplexes.

SUMMARY Most metazoan microRNA target sites have perfect pairing to the seed region, located near the miRNA 5’ end. Although pairing to the 3’ region sometimes supplements seed matches or compensates for mismatches, pairing to the central region has been known to function only at rare sites that impart Agronaute-catalyzed mRNA cleavage. Here we present “centered sites,” a class of microRNA target sites that lacks both perfect seed pairing and 3’-compensatory pairing and instead has 11–12 contiguous Watson–Crick pairs to the center of the microRNA. Although centered sites can impart mRNA cleavage in vitro (in elevated Mg2+), in cells they repress protein output without consequential Agronaute-catalyzed cleavage. Our study also identified extensively paired sites that are cleavage substrates in cultured cells and human brain. This expanded repertoire of cleavage targets and the identification of the centered site type help explain why central regions of many microRNAs are evolutionarily conserved.

Summary MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate target mRNAs through a combination of translational repression and mRNA destabilization, with mRNA destabilization dominating at steady state in the few contexts examined globally. Here, we extend the global steady-state measurements to additional mammalian contexts and find that regardless of the miRNA, cell type, growth condition, or translational state, mRNA destabilization explains most (66% to >90%) miRNA-mediated repression. We also determine the relative dynamics of translational repression and mRNA destabilization for endogenous mRNAs as a miRNA is induced. Although translational repression occurs rapidly, its effect is relatively weak, such that by the time consequential repression ensues, the effect of mRNA destabilization dominates. These results imply that consequential miRNA-mediated repression is largely irreversible and provide other insights into the nature of miRNA-mediated regulation. They also simplify future studies, dramatically extending the known contexts and time points for which monitoring mRNA changes captures most of the direct miRNA effects.

The cellular response to stresses such as heat shock involves changes in gene expression. It is well known that the splicing of messenger RNA precursors is generally repressed on heat shock, but the factors responsible have not been identified. SRp38 is an SR protein splicing factor that functions as a general repressor of splicing. It is activated by dephosphorylation and required for splicing repression in M-phase cells. Here we show that SRp38 is also dephosphorylated on heat shock and that this dephosphorylation correlates with splicing inhibition. Notably, depletion of SRp38 from heat-shocked cell extracts derepresses splicing, and adding back dephosphorylated SRp38 specifically restores inhibition. We further show that dephosphorylated SRp38 interacts with a U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) protein, and that this interaction interferes with 5'-splice-site recognition by the U1 snRNP. Finally, SRp38-deficient DT40 cells show an altered cell-cycle profile consistent with a mitotic defect; they are also temperature sensitive and defective in recovery after heat shock. SRp38 thus plays a crucial role in cell survival under stress conditions by inhibiting the splicing machinery.

SR proteins constitute a family of pre-mRNA splicing factors that play important roles in both constitutive and regulated splicing. Here, we describe one member of the family, which we call SRp38, with unexpected properties. Unlike other SR proteins, SRp38 cannot activate splicing and is essentially inactive in splicing assays. However, dephosphorylation converts SRp38 to a potent, general repressor that inhibits splicing at an early step. To investigate the cellular function of SRp38, we examined its possible role in cell cycle control. We show first that splicing, like other steps in gene expression, is inhibited in extracts of mitotic cells. Strikingly, SRp38 was found to be dephosphorylated specifically in mitotic cells, and we show that dephosphorylated SRp38 is required for the observed splicing repression.