In this work, we systematically investigate the role of target-site accessibility, as determined by base-pairing interactions within the mRNA, in microRNA target recognition. We experimentally show that mutations diminishing target accessibility substantially reduce microRNA-mediated translational repression, with effects comparable to those of mutations that disrupt sequence
complementarity.
We devise a parameter-free model for microRNA-target interaction that computes the difference between the free energy gained from the formation of the microRNA-target duplex and the energetic cost of unpairing the target to make it accessible to the microRNA. This model accurately predicts validated targets and shows that genomes accommodate site accessibility by preferentially positioning targets in highly accessible regions.
Talk is based on:
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v39/n10/abs/ng2135.html
