Specificity of Highly Potent miRNA Inhibitors

Highly potent miRNA inhibitors represent invaluable tools for elucidating the roles of miRNAs. However, it is important to be aware that such potent inhibitors may also affect function of other miRNAs, especially miRNA family members. To understand the potential cross-reactivity of miRNA inhibitors, various miRNA inhibitor designs were systematically tested. We demonstrate that mismatches both within and outside the seed region of the miRNA interfere with inhibition. Our findings indicate that certain features important for natural miRNA target recognition also appear to be important for inhibitor specificity.