Project description:Objectives Non-invasive staging of decompensated cirrhosis is an unmeet clinical need. The aims of this study were to characterize and validate a novel miRNA signature to stage decompensated cirrhosis and predict the portal pressure and cardiac dysfunction response to non-selective beta-blockers (NSBB). Design Serum samples from patients with decompensated cirrhosis (n=36) and healthy controls (n=36) were tested for a novel signature of five miRNAs (miR-452-5p, miR-429, miR-885-5p, miR-181b-5p, and miR-122-5p) identified in the secretome of primary human hepatocytes, and three miRNAs (miR-192-5p, miR-34a-5p and miR-29a-5p) previously discovered as biomarkers of chronic liver disease. All patients had ascites, that was refractory in 18 (50%), and were placed on NSBB for variceal bleeding prophylaxis. In all patients, serum miRNAs, hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG), and echocardiogram study was performed before and 1 month after NSBB. Results Cirrhotic patients had lower serum levels of miR-429, miR-885-5p, miR-181b-5p, miR-122-5p, miR-192-5p and miR-29a-5p (p<0.05). miR-452-5p and miR-429 expression were lower in NSBB responders (p=0.006). miR-181b-5p expression was greater in refractory- than in diuretic sensitive ascites (p=0.008) and correlated with serum creatinine. miR-452-5p and miR-885-5p were inversely correlated with baseline systemic vascular resistance (ρ=-0.46 p=0.007; and ρ=-0.41 p=0.01 respectively), and with diminished systolic contractility in patients with refractory ascites after NSBB (ρ=-0.55 p=0.02; and ρ=-0.55 p=0.02, respectively). Conclusion Analysis of a miRNA signature in serum distinguishes patients with decompensated cirrhosis who show more severe systemic circulatory dysfunction and compromised systolic function after beta-blockade, and those more likely to benefit from NSBB.
Project description:Ovarian cancer is a malignant gynecologic disease rarely diagnosed in the early stages. Among ovarian cancers, clear cell carcinoma has a poor prognosis due to its malignant potential. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression in cells by suppressing the translation of the target gene or by degrading the target mRNA. They are also secreted from the cells in the blood, binding to the proteins or lipids and assisting in cell-cell communication. Hence, serum miRNAs can also be diagnostic biomarkers for ovarian cancer. This study investigated and identified specific miRNAs for ovarian clear cell carcinoma and compared them to those of ovarian endometrioma in healthy patients. CA125, an ovarian tumor marker, did not differ between patients with ovarian clear cell carcinoma, endometriosis, or healthy controls. Four miRNAs (miR-146a-5p, miR-191-5p, miR-484, and miR-574-3p) were analyzed. The miR-146a-5p and miR-191-5p expression levels were significantly increased in the serum samples from the patients with ovarian clear cell carcinoma compared to the healthy controls but not in the patients with endometriosis (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the bioinformatics analysis showed that CCND2 and NOTCH2 were the candidate target genes of miR 146a-5p and miR-191-5p. In conclusion, our results showed that miR 146a-5p and miR-191-5p might be useful as early and non-invasive diagnostic tools in ovarian clear cell carcinoma. These miRNAs can help in distinguishing between ovarian clear cell carcinoma and ovarian endometrioma. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have screened any candidates specifically for clear cell carcinoma.
Project description:Background/Aim: We investigated alterations in the expression of serum exosomal miRNAs with the progression of liver fibrosis and evaluated their clinical applicability as biomarkers. Methods: This study prospectively enrolled 71 patients who underwent liver biopsy at an academic hospital in Korea. Exosomes were extracted from serum samples, followed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) of miRNAs and targeted real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. A model was derived to discriminate advanced fibrosis based on miRNA levels and the performance of this model was evaluated. Validation of the effect of miRNA on liver fibrosis in vitro was followed. Methods: This study prospectively enrolled 71 patients who underwent liver biopsy at an academic hospital in Korea. Exosomes were extracted from serum samples, followed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) of miRNAs and targeted real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. A model was derived to discriminate advanced fibrosis based on miRNA levels and the performance of this model was evaluated. Validation of the effect of miRNA on liver fibrosis in vitro was followed. Results: NGS data revealed that exosomal miR-660-5p, miR-125a-5p, and miR-122 expression were changed significantly with the progression of liver fibrosis, of which miR-122 exhibited high read counts enough to be used as a biomarker. The level of exosomal miR-122 decreased as the pathologic fibrosis grade progressed and patients with biopsy-proven advanced fibrosis had significantly lower levels of exosomal miR-122 (P < 0.001) than those without advanced fibrosis. Exosomal miR-122 exhibited a fair performance in discriminating advanced fibrosis especially in combination with fibrosis-4 score and transient elastography. In a subgroup of patients with a non-viral etiology of liver disease, the performance of exosomal miR-122 as a biomarker was greatly improved. Inhibition of miR-122 expression increased the proliferation of the human hepatic stellate cell line, LX-2, and upregulated the expression of various fibrosis related proteins. Conclusion: Exosomal miR-122 may serve as a useful non-invasive biomarker for liver fibrosis, especially in patients with non-viral etiologies of chronic liver disease.
Project description:Background: The identification of new high sensitivity and specificity markers for HCC are essential. We aimed to identify serum microRNAs for diagnosing hepatitis B virus (HBV) â??related HCC. Methods: Serum microRNA expression was investigated with four cohorts including 667 participants (261 HCC patients ,233 cirrhosi patients and 173 healthy controls), recruited between August 2010 and June 2013. First, An initial screening of miRNA expression by Illumina sequencing was performed using serum samples pooled from HCC patients and controls,respectively. Quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay was then applied to evaluate the expression of selected microRNAs. A logistic regression model was constructed using a training cohort (n=357) and then validated using a cohort(n=241). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy. Results: , We identified 8 miRNAs(hsa-miR-206, hsa-miR-141-3p, hsa-miR-433-3p, hsa-miR-1228-5p, hsa-miR-199a-5p, hsa-miR-122-5p, hsa-miR-192-5p and hsa-miR-26a-5p.) formed a miRNA panel that provided a high diagnostic accuracy of HCC (AUC=0.887 and 0.879 for training and validation data set, respectively). The microRNA panel can also differentiate HCC from healthy (AUC =0.894) and cirrhosis (AUC = 0.892), respectively. Conclusions:We found a serum microRNAs panel that has considerable clinical value in diagnosing HCC. 9 serum samples pooled from 3 healthy control donors and 3 HCC patients, 3 cirrhosi patients treated at The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University were subjected to Illumina HiSeq 2000 deep sequencing to identify the miRNAs that were significantly differentially expressed.
Project description:Background Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease associated with motor neuron degeneration, muscle atrophy and paralysis. To date, multiple panels of biomarkers have been described in ALS patients and murine models. Nevertheless, none of them has sufficient specificity and thus the molecular signature for ALS prognosis and progression remains to be fully elucidated. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are highly stable molecules that are recently used as promising biomarkers for many types of human cancer and muscle disorders. Here we overcome this limitation through a longitudinal study, analyzing serum levels of circulating miRNAs in ALS patients during the progression of the pathology. Method We performed next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis and absolute RT quantification of serum samples of 27 ALS patients and 11 healthy control; among them 13 ALS patients were studied every three months till the end of the disease. Results We demonstrated that miR-151a-3p, miR-206 and miR-199a-3p are significantly expressed at the mild, moderate and severe stages of ALS pathology, whereas the expression levels of miR-133a and miR-199a-5p remained low during the whole study and retain diagnostic significance in the moderate and severe stages (miR-133a) and in mild and terminal stages (miR-199a-5p) of the disease. Moreover, we analysed the miRNAs serum levels during the progression of the disease in each patient and we demonstrated that high levels of miR-206, miR-133a, miR-151a-5p, miR-151a-3p can predict a slower clinical decline of patient functionality suggesting that these miRNAs represent good potential prognostic markers for ALS disease. Conclusion This study is the first to perform a longitudinal absolute quantification of circulating miRNAs during ALS disease. We highlighted putative biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and disease stage identification of ALS patients providing cut-off threshold for most of the miRNAs analyzed. In addition, our results define a molecular signature of ALS phenotypes that could help to define appropriate enrollments of patients in clinical trials.
Project description:Background: The identification of new high sensitivity and specificity markers for HCC are essential. We aimed to identify serum microRNAs for diagnosing hepatitis B virus (HBV) –related HCC. Methods: Serum microRNA expression was investigated with four cohorts including 667 participants (261 HCC patients ,233 cirrhosi patients and 173 healthy controls), recruited between August 2010 and June 2013. First, An initial screening of miRNA expression by Illumina sequencing was performed using serum samples pooled from HCC patients and controls,respectively. Quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay was then applied to evaluate the expression of selected microRNAs. A logistic regression model was constructed using a training cohort (n=357) and then validated using a cohort(n=241). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy. Results: , We identified 8 miRNAs(hsa-miR-206, hsa-miR-141-3p, hsa-miR-433-3p, hsa-miR-1228-5p, hsa-miR-199a-5p, hsa-miR-122-5p, hsa-miR-192-5p and hsa-miR-26a-5p.) formed a miRNA panel that provided a high diagnostic accuracy of HCC (AUC=0.887 and 0.879 for training and validation data set, respectively). The microRNA panel can also differentiate HCC from healthy (AUC =0.894) and cirrhosis (AUC = 0.892), respectively. Conclusions:We found a serum microRNAs panel that has considerable clinical value in diagnosing HCC.
Project description:Circulating microRNAs are biomarkers reported to be stable and translational acrossspecies. miR-122 (miR-122-5p) is a hepatocyte-specific microRNA biomarker for drug-induced liver injury (DILI). Our objective was to develop an extraction-free andamplification-free detection method for measuring miR-122 that has translationalutility in context of DILI. We developed a single molecule dynamic chemical labelling(DCL) assay based on miR-122 hybridization to an abasic peptide nucleic acid probethat contained a reactive amine instead of a nucleotide at a specific position in thesequence. The single molecule DCL assay specifically measured miR-122 directly from10 μL of serum or plasma without any extraction steps, with a fit-for-purpose limit ofdetection of 1.32 pM. In 192 human serum samples, DCL accurately identified patientsat risk of DILI (area under ROC curve 0.98 (95%CI 0.96-1), P<0.0001). The miR-122assay also quantified liver injury in rats and dogs. When DCL beads were added toserum, the miR-122 signal was stabilised (no loss of signal after 14 days at roomtemperature). By contrast, there was substantial degradation of miR-122 in the absenceof beads (≈60% lost in 1 day). RNA sequencing demonstrated the presence of multiplemiR-122 isomiRs with DILI that were at low concentration or not present in healthypatient serum. Sample degradation over time produced more isomiRs, particularlyrapidly with DILI. PCR was inaccurate when analysing miR-122 isomiRs, whereas theDCL assay demonstrated accurate quantification. In summary, the DCL assay canaccurately measure miR-122 directly from serum and plasma to diagnose liver injury inhumans and other species, and can overcome important microRNA biomarker analyticaland biological challenges.
Project description:Liver biopsy is currently the only reliable method to establish non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) severity. However, this technique is invasive and occasionally associated with severe complications. Thus, non‐invasive diagnostic markers for NAFLD are needed. Former studies have postulated 18 different serum biomarker microRNAs with altered levels in NAFLD patients. In this study, we have re‐examined the predictive value of these serum microRNAs and found that only 6 of them (miR‐34a, ‐192, ‐27b, ‐122, ‐197 and ‐30c) are validated in our independent cohort as biomarkers associated with NAFLD severity. Among them, miR‐192, ‐27b and ‐122 are abundantly expressed in liver and confidently detected in serum, and display strong correlations with transaminases. The classification performance of validated miRNAs (and their ratios) for patients with non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is similar to that reached by AST, whereas for advanced fibrosis prediction, the miR‐27b/‐197 ratio demonstrated a good performance and an excellent sensitivity and, along with the FIB‐4 index, may constitute a potent non‐invasive predictive tool.
Project description:Breast Cancer is the cancer with most incidence and mortality in women. microRNAs are emerging as novel prognosis/diagnostic tools. Our aim was to identify a serum microRNA signature useful to predict cancer development. We focused on studying the expression levels of 30 microRNAs in the serum of 96 breast cancer patients versus 92 control individuals. Bioinformatic studies provide a microRNA signature, designated as a predictor, based upon the expression levels of 5 microRNAs. Then, we tested the predictor in a group of 60 randomly chosen women. Lastly, a proteomic study unveiled the over-expression and down-regulation of proteins differently expressed in the serum of breast cancer patients versus that of control individuals. Twenty-six microRNAs differentiate cancer tissue from healthy tissue and 16 microRNAs differentiate the serum of cancer patients from that of the control group. The tissue expression of miR-99a-5p, mir-497-5p, miR-362, and miR-1274, and the serum levels of miR-141 correlated with patient survival. Moreover, the predictor consisting of mir-125b-5p, miR-29c-3p, mir-16-5p, miR-1260, and miR-451a was able to differentiate breast cancer patients from controls. The predictor was validated in 20 new cases of breast cancer patients and tested in 60 volunteer women, assigning 11 out of 60 women to the cancer group. An association of low levels of mir-16-5p with a high content of CD44 protein in serum was found. Circulating microRNAs in serum can represent biomarkers for cancer prediction. Their clinical relevance and use of the predictor here described might be of potential importance for breast cancer prediction.
Project description:Initial screening, the expression of 125 mature miRNA was compared between pooled control and autism samples by two microarray analysis. The differential expression of 14 miRNA was further validated by SYBR green quantitative PCR of Individual samples. Thirteen miRNAs were differentially expressed in autistic individuals compared to the controls (8 upregulated and 5 down regulated). miR-151a-3p, miR-181b-5p, miR-320a, miR-328, miR-433, miR-489, miR-572, and miR-663a were downregulated, while miR-101-3p, miR-106b-5p, miR-130a-3p, miR-195-5p, and miR-19b-3p were upregulated. We have identified a set of serum miRNAs that could be used as non-invasive biomarkers for autism.