Figure 4.

Argonaute binding is a better indicator of miRNA function than total expression. (a) Read numbers associated with the 5p and 3p arms of miR-374a are indicated in the AGO immunoprecipitation and whole cell RNA sequencing by histogram (above) and plotting of read abundance across the miR-374a locus (below). (b) MDA-MB-231 cells were transfected with 5 × 5-fold serial dilutions of luciferase reporter plasmids containing sites fully complementary to the 5p or 3p arm of miR-374a. Luciferase activity was determined in triplicate, 48 h post-transfection. Error bars depict standard error of mean. Results demonstrate the most functionally active arm of miR-374a represents the arm most associated with AGO rather than the arm predominantly expressed within cells.