The biochemical basis of microRNA targeting efficacy

Abstract

Biochemical prediction of miRNA targeting MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate most human messenger RNAs and play essential roles in diverse developmental and physiological processes. Correctly predicting the function of each miRNA requires a better understanding of miRNA targeting efficacy. McGeary et al. measured binding affinities between six miRNAs and synthetic targets, built a biochemical model of miRNA-mediated repression, and expanded it to all miRNAs using a convolutional neural network. This approach offers insights into miRNA targeting and enables more accurate prediction of intracellular miRNA repression efficacy than previous algorithms. Science , this issue p. eaav1741