Comparative analysis of microRNA expression profiles in the colons of specific pathogen-free mice and germ-free mice.

MicroRNAs play an important role in microbiota-host crosstalk. In this study, we compared microRNA expression in whole colons of specific pathogen-free mice and germ-free mice. Forty-eight microRNAs were differentially expressed by more than 2-fold. Gene ontology analysis of the predicted mRNA targets revealed that the majority of the most significant gene ontology terms were related to GTPases and nerves.