Using the analysis strategy described in Reference #12 [16], we obtained the “Summary_Counts.all_predictions.txt” file from TargetScan (v8.0) and used human items for statistical purposes. Our findings indicate that out of 13,074 mRNAs with conserved target sites, 10,531 mRNAs (80.5%) contain multiple conserved target sites, with an average of 9.3 miRNA sites per 3’UTR. Additionally, we utilized the “Predicted_Targets_Info.default_predictions.txt” file provided by TargetScan (v8.0) to predict conserved targets of broadly conserved miRNA families. This yielded a total of 78,251 miRNA family-mRNA target items, with an average of 724.5 items per family. We identified 108 broadly conserved miRNA families in humans according to TargetScan (v8.0). These updated findings have been included in our revised manuscript.
