Scientists from the Mayo Clinic, Institute for Systems Biology, and University of Illinois recently published a study investigating the effects of vitamin D on microRNA regulation of gene expression in zebrafish. The team used our Pippin Prep together with the NEBNext Multiplex Small RNA Kit from New England Biolabs to enrich their samples for miRNAs.
Lead authors Theodore Craig and Yuji Zhang performed RNA-seq with Illumina to look across the zebrafish transcriptome at which genes’ activity are changed by vitamin D. They found that by the seventh day of development, the zebrafish larvae have 2,500 protein-coding genes that are up- or down-regulated by vitamin D. The authors looked closely at the miRNAs involved in this process, finding that both known and novel miRNAs play a role. “The differentially expressed miRNAs are predicted to potentially alter mRNAs for metabolic enzymes, transcription factors, growth factors, and Jak-STAT signaling,” the authors write.
The scientists hypothesize that the higher number of miRNAs involved by day 7 of development is probably “due to the increased complexity of organs and the need for fine tuning of mRNA expression.”
You can view the paper, “Detection of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D-Regulated miRNAs in Zebrafish by Whole Transcriptome Sequencing,” in the journal Zebrafish.
To learn more about the use of Pippin size selection to enrich miRNA selection with the NEBNext Multiplex Small RNA Kit, check out this app note.