Poster abstracts

Poster number 72 submitted by Jinani Slaibi

Identification of conserved cis-acting elements which may play a role in miRNA gene expression

Jinani E. Slaibi (Departments of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University), Girish C. Shukla (Departments of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University)

Abstract:
Regulatory micro (mi) RNAs are evolutionarily conserved large class of RNAs molecules of 19-24 nucleotides in length and are found in various organisms including humans. These novel noncoding RNAs regulate gene expression by targeting the 3’ untranslated region (UTR) of mRNAs. A large number of miRNA genes are encoded in mammalian introns. Using bioinformatics approaches we have identified a variety of sequence elements that are found in miRNA neighboring exons and introns of human, mouse, and rat. The identification and functional evaluation of these regulatory motifs and elements would help us to understand their roles in coordinated events of nuclear pre-mRNA splicing and miRNA processing.

Keywords: miRNA, pre-mRNA splicing, Bioinformatics