Project description:microRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by targeting specific mRNAs. Altered expression of circulating miRNAs have been associated with age-related diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Although we and others have found an age-dependent decrease in miRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), little is known about the role of circulating miRNAs in human aging. Here, we examined miRNA expression in human serum from young (mean age 30 years) and old (mean age 64 years) individuals using next generation sequencing technology and real-time quantitative PCR. Of the miRNAs that we found to be present in serum, three were significantly decreased in 20 older individuals compared to 20 younger individuals: miR-151a-5p, miR-181a-5p and miR-1248. Consistent with our data in humans, these miRNAs are also present at lower levels in the serum of elderly rhesus monkeys. In humans, miR-1248 was found to regulate the expression of mRNAs involved in inflammatory pathways and miR-181a was found to correlate negatively with the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNFa and to correlate positively with the anti-inflammatory cytokines TGFb and IL-10. These results suggest that circulating miRNAs may be a biological marker of aging and could also be important for regulating longevity. Identification of stable miRNA biomarkers in serum could have great potential as a noninvasive diagnostic tool as well as enhance our understanding of physiological changes that occur with age. Examination of microRNAs isolated from human serum from 11 young (mean age 30 yrs) and 11 old (mean age 64 yrs) individuals and from peripheral blood mononuclear cells from one young (30 yr) and one old (64 yr) individual.
Project description:microRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by targeting specific mRNAs. Altered expression of circulating miRNAs have been associated with age-related diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Although we and others have found an age-dependent decrease in miRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), little is known about the role of circulating miRNAs in human aging. Here, we examined miRNA expression in human serum from young (mean age 30 years) and old (mean age 64 years) individuals using next generation sequencing technology and real-time quantitative PCR. Of the miRNAs that we found to be present in serum, three were significantly decreased in 20 older individuals compared to 20 younger individuals: miR-151a-5p, miR-181a-5p and miR-1248. Consistent with our data in humans, these miRNAs are also present at lower levels in the serum of elderly rhesus monkeys. In humans, miR-1248 was found to regulate the expression of mRNAs involved in inflammatory pathways and miR-181a was found to correlate negatively with the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNFa and to correlate positively with the anti-inflammatory cytokines TGFb and IL-10. These results suggest that circulating miRNAs may be a biological marker of aging and could also be important for regulating longevity. Identification of stable miRNA biomarkers in serum could have great potential as a noninvasive diagnostic tool as well as enhance our understanding of physiological changes that occur with age.
Project description:microRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by targeting specific mRNAs. Altered expression of circulating miRNAs have been associated with age-related diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Although we and others have found an age-dependent decrease in miRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), little is known about the role of circulating miRNAs in human aging. Here, we examined miRNA expression in human serum from young (mean age 30 years) and old (mean age 64 years) individuals using next generation sequencing technology and real-time quantitative PCR. Of the miRNAs that we found to be present in serum, three were significantly decreased in 20 older individuals compared to 20 younger individuals: miR-151a-5p, miR-181a-5p and miR-1248. Consistent with our data in humans, these miRNAs are also present at lower levels in the serum of elderly rhesus monkeys. In humans, miR-1248 was found to regulate the expression of mRNAs involved in inflammatory pathways and miR-181a was found to correlate negatively with the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNFa and to correlate positively with the anti-inflammatory cytokines TGFb and IL-10. These results suggest that circulating miRNAs may be a biological marker of aging and could also be important for regulating longevity. Identification of stable miRNA biomarkers in serum could have great potential as a noninvasive diagnostic tool as well as enhance our understanding of physiological changes that occur with age.
Project description:Age-related changes in microRNA levels in serum 20 nM biotinylated miRIDIAN miR-1248 mimic (Thermo Scientific) or a negative control, biotinylated miRIDIAN C. elegans miR-67 (here named Con-miR) using Lipofectamine 2000. Forty eight hours post transfection, total RNA was isolated using the mirVana kit (Invitrogen) according to manufacturer’s procedure. Three replicate experiments were performed and a technical repeat was included for each sample. Samples were analyzed using Illumina's Sentrix Human HT-12 ver4 Expression BeadChips (Illumina, San Diego, CA).
Project description:We carried out a global survey of age-related changes in mRNA levels in the C57BL/6NIA mouse hippocampus and found a difference in the hippocampal gene expression profile between 2-month-old young mice and 15-month-old middle-aged mice correlated with an age-related cognitive deficit in hippocampal-based explicit memory formation. Middle-aged mice displayed a mild but specific deficit in spatial memory in the Morris water maze. Experiment Overall Design: No technical replicates; 14 biological replicates for 15-month-old mice, 9 biological replicates for 2-month-old mice. Whole hippocampus.
Project description:Hui2014 - Age-related changes in articular
cartilage
This model is described in the article:
Oxidative changes and
signalling pathways are pivotal in initiating age-related
changes in articular cartilage
Wang Hui1, David A Young1, Andrew D
Rowan1, Xin Xu2, Tim E Cawston1, Carole J Proctor1,3
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Abstract:
Objective: To use a computational approach to investigate
the cellular and extracellular matrix changes that occur with
age in the knee joints of mice. Methods: Knee joints from an
inbred C57/BL1/6 (ICRFa) mouse colony were harvested at
3–30?months of age. Sections were stained with H&E,
Safranin-O, Picro-sirius red and antibodies to matrix
metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13), nitrotyrosine, LC-3B, Bcl-2, and
cleaved type II collagen used for immunohistochemistry. Based
on this and other data from the literature, a computer
simulation model was built using the Systems Biology Markup
Language using an iterative approach of data analysis and
modelling. Individual parameters were subsequently altered to
assess their effect on the model. Results: A progressive loss
of cartilage matrix occurred with age. Nitrotyrosine, MMP-13
and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK1) staining in cartilage
increased with age with a concomitant decrease in LC-3B and
Bcl-2. Stochastic simulations from the computational model
showed a good agreement with these data, once transforming
growth factor-? signalling via ALK1/ALK5 receptors was
included. Oxidative stress and the interleukin 1 pathway were
identified as key factors in driving the cartilage breakdown
associated with ageing. Conclusions: A progressive loss of
cartilage matrix and cellularity occurs with age. This is
accompanied with increased levels of oxidative stress,
apoptosis and MMP-13 and a decrease in chondrocyte autophagy.
These changes explain the marked predisposition of joints to
develop osteoarthritis with age. Computational modelling
provides useful insights into the underlying mechanisms
involved in age-related changes in musculoskeletal tissues.
This model is hosted on
BioModels Database
and identified by:
BIOMD0000000560.
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quantitative kinetic models.
To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or
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Project description:Serum samples were collected from patients with CHB, DeCi and normal controls. We separated EVs from serum and identified them. MiRNAs from EVs were sequenced by NGS and analyzed to obtain differentially expressed miRNAs. Then we detected the expression level of candidate miRNAs from every single sample by qRT-PCR. The differences of serum EVs in patients with liver disease and 4 miRNAs with significantly different expression levels in EVs were determined. These serum EVs and miRNAs in EVs may be candidates for diagnosing and monitoring liver disease, or important therapeutic targets for the treatment of liver disease.
Project description:A causal role of mutations in genes encoding for multiple general transcription factors in neurodevelopmental disorders including autism suggested that alterations at the global level of gene expression regulation might also relate to disease risk in sporadic cases of autism. This premise can be tested by evaluating for global changes in the overall distribution of gene expression levels. For instance, in mice, we recently showed that variability in hippocampal-dependent behaviors was associated with variability in the pattern of the overall distribution of gene expression levels, as assessed by variance in the distribution of gene expression levels in the hippocampus. We hypothesized that a similar change in the variance in gene expression levels might be found in children with autism. Gene expression microarrays covering greater than 47,000 unique RNA transcripts were done on purified RNA from peripheral blood lymphocytes of children with autism (n=82) and controls (n=64). The variance in the distribution of gene expression levels from each microarray was compared between groups of children. Also tested was whether a risk factor for autism, increased paternal age, was associated with variance in the overall distribution of gene expression levels. A decrease in the variance in the distribution of gene expression levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) was associated with the diagnosis of autism and a risk factor for autism, increased paternal age. Traditional approaches to microarray analysis of gene expression suggested a possible mechanism for decreased variance in gene expression. Gene expression pathways involved in transcriptional regulation were down-regulated in the blood of children with autism and children of older fathers. Thus, results from global and gene specific approaches to studying microarray data were complimentary and supported the hypothesis that alterations at the global level of gene expression regulation are related to autism and increased paternal age. Regulation of transcription, thus, represents a possible point of convergence for multiple etiologies of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.