High-throughput microRNA sequencing in the developing branchial arches suggests miR-92b-3p regulation of a cardiovascular gene network

Vertebrate branchial arches (BAs) are a developmental paradigm, undergoing coordinated differentiation and morphogenesis to form various adult derivative tissues. MicroRNAs can strengthen gene regulatory networks (GRNs) to promote developmental stability. To investigate microRNA-mediated regulation in BA development, we generated a novel microRNA-sequencing dataset from mouse BAs. We identified 550 expressed microRNAs, of which approximately 20% demonstrate significant differential expression across BA domains. The three most posterior BAs and the connecting outflow tract (PBA/OFT) express genes important for cardiovascular development. We predicted microRNA-target interactions with PBA/OFT-expressed cardiovascular genes and found target sites for miR-92b-3p to be enriched. We used a dual luciferase assay to validate miR-92b-3p interactions with two transcripts encoding the fundamental cardiac transcription factors (TFs), <i>Gata6</i> and <i>Tbx20</i>. Furthermore, we demonstrated that miR-92b-3p mimic can downregulate endogenous <i>GATA6</i> and <i>TBX20</i> in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) undergoing cardiomyocyte differentiation, confirming microRNA-target binding can occur in a cardiac cell type. miR-92b-3p has previously been shown to target transcripts encoding for two other cardiac TFs, <i>Hand2</i> and <i>Mef2D.</i> Therefore, we hypothesise that miR-92b-3p acts to stabilise cardiovascular GRNs during PBA/OFT development, through multiple microRNA-mediated regulatory networks.