Abstract:
microRNAs(miRNAs) as small endogenous single-stranded non-coding RNAs play important roles in the development and occurrence of tissues and organs, cell proliferation and apoptosis. However, the expression patterns of bta-miR-103 in cattle tissues and its possible target genes are not yet fully understood. In this study, the position and sequence information of bta-miR-103 in the cattle genome were firstly analyzed, then the expression of bta-miR-103 in different bovine tissues were also detected by Stem-loop real-time PCR. The results showed that the expression of bta-miR-103 was highest in bovine epithelial tissues, followed by bone marrow and conne ctive tissue. In order to understand the role and mechanism of bta-mi R-103, the candidate target genes were predict ed using TargetScan online software. It was found that 3’ UTR of 744 genes mRNA may bind to bta-miR-103, furthermore some target genes were involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The results of this study laid the foundation for study on the role of bta-miR-103 in the proliferation and differentiation of cattle tissues.