Figure 8

A diagram illustrating how isomiRs may act cooperatively with the canonical miRNAs to increase the signal to noise ratio of mRNA targeting. (a, b) Where only a single miRNA molecule is used for targeting (a), there is no differentiation between potential 'off-target' effects, and targeting the 'desired' core molecular network when the dosage of that miRNA is increased. However, the dosage is increased using isomiRs (b), with slightly different targeting of both core network mRNAs and 'off-target' miRNAs, amplification of specific targeting of the 'core' network can be achieved relative to the 'off-target' effects. The more isomiRs present, the more differentiation could be achieved.