Comprehensive analysis of microrna expression in regionalized human neural progenitor cells reveals microRNA-10 as a caudalizing factor

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Marie E. Jönsson
  • Jenny Nelander Wahlestedt
  • Malin Åkerblom
  • Kirkeby, Agnete
  • Josephine Malmevik
  • Per Ludvik Brattaas
  • Johan Jakobsson
  • Malin Parmar

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in regulating multiple processes during brain development in various species. However, the function of miRNAs in human brain development remains largely unexplored. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of miRNA expression of regionalized neural progenitor cells derived from human embryonic stem cells and human foetal brain. We found miR-92b-3p and miR-130b-5p to be specifically associated with neural progenitors and several miRNAs that display both age-specific and region-specific expression patterns. Among these miRNAs, we identified miR-10 to be specifically expressed in the human hindbrain and spinal cord, while being absent from rostral regions. We found that miR-10 regulates a large number of genes enriched for functions including transcription, actin cytoskeleton and ephrin receptor signalling. When overexpressed, miR-10 influences caudalization of human neural progenitor cells. Together, these data confirm a role for miRNAs in establishing different human neural progenitor populations. This dataset also provides a comprehensive resource for future studies investigating the functional role of different miRNAs in human brain development.

Original languageEnglish
JournalDevelopment (Cambridge)
Volume142
Issue number18
Pages (from-to)3166-3177
Number of pages12
ISSN0950-1991
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Sep 2015

    Research areas

  • Cell specification, MicroRNA, Neural development, Neural stem cells

ID: 228505790