miRNAs have recently been shown to play a key role in cell senescence, by downregulating target genes. Thus, inference of those miRNAs that critically downregulate target genes is important. However, inference of target gene regulation by miRNAs is difficult and is often achieved simply by investigating significant upregulation during cell senescence. Here, we inferred the regulation of target genes by miRNAs, using the recently developed MiRaGE server, together with the change in miRNA expression during fibroblast IMR90 cell senescence. We revealed that the simultaneous consideration of 2 criteria, the up(down)regulation and the down(up) regulatiion of target genes, yields more feasible miRNA, i.e., those that are most frequently reported to be down/upregulated and/or to possess biological backgrounds that induce cell senescence. Thus, when analyzing miRNAs that critically contribute to cell senescence, it is important to consider the level of target gene regulation, simultaneously with the change in miRNA expression.
Keywords: bioinformatics; expression regulation; mirna; senescence; target gene.