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.