Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40984977›Full record

ArticleiScience2025

Half of annotated human microRNAs are expressed at levels of questionable biological significance.

Saba Ataei Kachooei, Julie M Bracken, Katherine A Pillman, Philip A Gregory, Cameron P Bracken

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in iScience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. microRNA-155: a versatile noncoding RNA.Molecular biology reports · 2026
    Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Saba Ataei KachooeiCentre for Cancer Biology, An Alliance of SA Pathology and University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Julie M BrackenCentre for Cancer Biology, An Alliance of SA Pathology and University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Katherine A PillmanCentre for Cancer Biology, An Alliance of SA Pathology and University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Philip A GregoryCentre for Cancer Biology, An Alliance of SA Pathology and University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Cameron P BrackenCentre for Cancer Biology, An Alliance of SA Pathology and University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are widely studied for their role in post-transcriptional gene regulation, often using exogenous overexpression to infer function. However, such approaches may not reflect physiological activity, as they rely on unnaturally high expression levels. To address this, we determined the minimal threshold required for detectable endogenous miRNA function using sensitive reporters. Comparison with small RNA sequencing data from thousands of cell lines and tissues revealed that over half of all miRNAs never reach functionally relevant levels, with more recently evolved miRNAs generally exhibiting lower expression. This challenges the validity of numerous studies reporting roles for lowly expressed miRNAs, suggesting many findings reflect artifacts of overexpression rather than true biological activity. Our work underscores the importance of evaluating miRNA function in a native context and supports the view that the functional human "microRNAome" is substantially smaller than estimates based solely on sequencing data.

Indexed as

Cell biologyMolecular mechanism of gene regulationSystems biology

Identifiers

PMID40984977
PMCPMC12450571

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.