NanoString output: miRNA probe ID with with plus sign (+)

Question

[kinnaryshahh]

I am analyzing NanoString output data for differential expression analysis. I have 10 out of 800 total probe IDs that have plus signs (+) combining 2 or 3 miRNA ids into the same row. Most of my rows have row names like "hsa-miR-517c-3p". But for example, some of them have a row name like "hsa-miR-517c-3p+hsa-miR-519a-3p". What does this + sign mean and how should I interpret these miRNAs?

Thank you!

Answer 1

[GenoMax]

According to Nanostring:

miRNA species identified with an asterisk in the column "Target Note" are targeted by a non-unique probe. All species targeted by the same probe share the same number after the asterisk.

These miRNA share a probe.

[kinnaryshahh]

I see. I do not have a "Target Note" column, but I can still infer that they share a probe. Thank you!