Oliver Hobert, HHMI Investigator, Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, New York, NY, USA

Lecture #1 (Mo, June 15th, 60 min)
“The biological context of miRNA function: A case study from C.elegans”
This lecture will provide an introduction into a specific biological context in which a set of miRNAs function to control the development of a specific cell type. This lecture will therefore highlight the physiological function of a miRNA and show how miRNA function is integrated into gene regulatory networks.

References:
Johnston, RJ and Hobert, O (2003) “A microRNA controlling left/right neuronal asymmetry in Caenorhabditis elegans” Nature 426, 845-849 (featured in Mini-review in Nature Neurosci. 7, 100-102 and in Nat.Rev.Neurosci. 5, 79)

Hobert, O (2006) “Architecture of a microRNA-controlled gene regulatory network that diversifies neuronal cell fates”, Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology: Regulatory RNAs, Volume 71, 181-188


Lecture #2 (Tue, June 16th, 60 min)
“Common principles of miRNA and transcription factor function”
This lecture will compare principles of transcription factor and miRNA action and will discuss common and as well as divergent themes. This comparison is considered useful as we have learned a lot about principles of transcription factor action, and many of those principles may apply to miRNA function as well.

References:
Hobert, O (2008) “Gene regulation by transcription factors and microRNAs” Science 319, 1785-1786Hobert, O (2004) “Common logic of transcription factor and miRNA action” TIBS, 29(9), 462-468


Lecture #3 (Wed, June 17th, 60 min)
“Challenges in analyzing miRNA/target interactions”
Supplementing theory and informatic lectures, given by other lecturers in this meeting, I will describe the challenges in experimentally testing and validating miRNA/target interactions. Reliably identifiying miRNA targets is a key to understand their function, yet there are still gaps in predicting and then validating miRNA/target interaction. I will discuss specific issues associated with the experimental analysis of miRNA/target interactions.

References:
Didiano, D and Hobert O (2006) “Perfect seed pairing is not a generally reliable predictor for miRNA-target interactions”, Nature Struct. Mol. Biol. 13(9), 849-851

Didiano, D and Hobert O (2008) “Molecular architecture of a miRNA-regulated 3’UTR”, RNA 14, 1297-1317