Of the 145 miRNAs common to both mouse and human BAT, 25 were identified in the list of 35 mouse BAT-enriched miRNAs potentially targeting genes involved in cellular growth, proliferation and development.
The identification of BAT-enriched miRNAs, conserved in both mouse and human BAT, such as miR-20a, may be a common factor controlling BAT development.
The present study measured and compared the expression of miRNAs highly enriched in mouse and human BAT, as well as predicting their gene targets potentially involved in BAT growth and development.
While mice still remain the investigative of model of choice to understand the role and regulation BAT, studies establishing the similarities and differences in the molecular profile of mouse and human BAT are required.
Much of our knowledge about BAT is based on mouse studies and thus, it is of great interest to compare functionality, gene, and protein expression of mouse and human BAT.
Therefore the primary aims of this study were to (1) identify BAT-enriched miRNAs by comparing miRNA expression mouse BAT, skeletal muscle and WAT using PCR-based miRNA arrays (2); predict the BAT-enriched miRNA target genes potentially involved in growth, proliferation and development; (3) compare the miRNA profiles of mouse and human BAT.
(PDF 310 kb) Additional file 5: Table of the 25 mouse BAT-enriched miRNAs in human BAT and their predicted gene targets involved in cellular growth, proliferation and differentiation.
Twenty five of the 35 mouse BAT-enriched miRNAs were also expressed in human BAT and were predicted to regulate 788 genes involved growth, proliferation and development pathways (Additional file 5).
The aims of this study were to establish a mouse BAT-enriched miRNA profile and compare this with miRNAs measured in human BAT.
Human bat virus isolate FI-85 [ 9, 16] used in this study was the first archived newborn-mouse passage and had been kept at -70 °C since 1986.
