3.5 miRNA-mRNA regulatory network
Target genes that were verified by at least 1 of the 3 databases (TargetScan, miRDB, or miRTarBase) were selected as final screened-out target genes for DEMs. As illustrated in Figure 4, 1 miRNA can target 1 or more mRNAs to regulate their functions. Moreover, 1 or more miRNAs might interact with the same mRNA. For example, miR-4286, miR-425-5p and miR-3490-5p were shown to interact with the AF4/FMR2 family member 3 (AFF3). Noted, AFF3 encodes a tissue-restricted nuclear transcriptional activator that is preferentially expressed and located in the nucleus of B cells and might play a role in lymphoid development and oncogenesis (Shi et al., 2018). Overall, there were 25 mRNA nodes discovered, including BCL11A, CDK14, MOB3B, and TCF4, which were noted to interplay with at least 2 miRNAs.