MicroRNA Control of Protein Expression Noise
Event details
| Date | 08.06.2015 |
| Hour | 11:00 |
| Speaker | Dr Jörn Schmiedel, Humboldt Universität and Charité University Hospitals, Berlin (D) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR
Abstract:
MicroRNAs repress many genes in metazoan organisms by accelerating mRNA degradation and inhibiting translation, thereby reducing the level of protein. However, microRNAs only slightly reduce the mean expression for most targeted proteins, leading to speculation about their role in the variability of protein expression, or noise. Here we use mathematical modeling and single cell reporter assays to show that microRNAs – in conjunction with increased transcription - decrease protein expression noise for lowly expressed genes, but increase noise for highly expressed genes. Genes that are regulated by multiple microRNAs show more pronounced noise reduction. We estimate that hundreds of (lowly expressed) genes in mouse embryonic stem cells have reduced noise due to substantial microRNA regulation. Our findings therefore suggest that microRNAs confer precision to protein expression and thus offer plausible explanations for the commonly observed combinatorial targeting of endogenous genes by multiple microRNAs as well as the preferential targeting of lowly expressed genes.
Bio:
Oct 2013–present
Visiting Researcher
Hubrecht Institute · Prof. Alexander van Oudenaarden
Utrecht, The Netherlands
Apr 2012–Sep 2013
Visiting Researcher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Department of Biology · Prof. Alexander van Oudenaarden
Cambridge, MA, USA
Sep 2010–present
Visiting Researcher
Harvard Medical School · Department of Systems Biology · Dr. Debora Marks
Boston, MA, USA
May 2010–present
PhD Student
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin · Institute of Theoretical Biology · Prof. Nils Blüthgen
Berlin, Germany
Abstract:
MicroRNAs repress many genes in metazoan organisms by accelerating mRNA degradation and inhibiting translation, thereby reducing the level of protein. However, microRNAs only slightly reduce the mean expression for most targeted proteins, leading to speculation about their role in the variability of protein expression, or noise. Here we use mathematical modeling and single cell reporter assays to show that microRNAs – in conjunction with increased transcription - decrease protein expression noise for lowly expressed genes, but increase noise for highly expressed genes. Genes that are regulated by multiple microRNAs show more pronounced noise reduction. We estimate that hundreds of (lowly expressed) genes in mouse embryonic stem cells have reduced noise due to substantial microRNA regulation. Our findings therefore suggest that microRNAs confer precision to protein expression and thus offer plausible explanations for the commonly observed combinatorial targeting of endogenous genes by multiple microRNAs as well as the preferential targeting of lowly expressed genes.
Bio:
Oct 2013–present
Visiting Researcher
Hubrecht Institute · Prof. Alexander van Oudenaarden
Utrecht, The Netherlands
Apr 2012–Sep 2013
Visiting Researcher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Department of Biology · Prof. Alexander van Oudenaarden
Cambridge, MA, USA
Sep 2010–present
Visiting Researcher
Harvard Medical School · Department of Systems Biology · Dr. Debora Marks
Boston, MA, USA
May 2010–present
PhD Student
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin · Institute of Theoretical Biology · Prof. Nils Blüthgen
Berlin, Germany
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free