Project description:The current study used an ultra-sensitive genome-wide miRNA array to investigate changes in circulating miRNAs in plasma from patients with oral cancer and healthy individuals. Results indicated that there were only a few circulating miRNAs, including miR-223, miR-26a, miR-126, and miR-21, that were up-regulated in patients with oral cancer. A subsequent validation test indicated that circulating miR-223 levels were significantly higher (~2-fold, P< 0.05) in patients with oral cancer than in those without cancer. Moreover, in vitro studies revealed that miR-223 functions as a tumor suppressor.
Project description:the newly identified miR-205-5p-ANGPT2-AKT/ERK axis illustrates the molecular mechanism of endometriosis progression and may represent a novel diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for disease treatment.
Project description:Left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial disarray and interstitital fibrosis are the hallmarks of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Access to the myocardium for diagnostic purposes is limited. Circulating biomolecules reflecting the myocardial disease processes could improve early detection of HCM. Circulating miRNAs have been found to reflect disease processes in several cardiovascular diseases. Circulating miR-1, miR-495-3p and miR-4454 levels are elevated in plasma of HCM patients. miR-4454 is suggested as a potential biomarker for fibrosis in these patients.
Project description:We aim to investigate circulating genome-wide microRNA (miRome) profiles in Moyamoya disease (MMD)-discordant monozygotic (MZ) twins with the RNF213 founder mutation (rs112735431).A disease discordant monozygotic twin-based study design may unmask potential confounders from previously published circulating microRNA signature in MMD. Circulating genome-wide microRNA (miRNome) profiling was performed in MMD-discordant monozygotic twins, non-twin-MMD patients, and non-MMD healthy volunteers by microarray followed by qPCRvalidation, using blood samples. Differential plasma-microRNAs were further quantified in endothelial cells differentiated from iPS cell lines (iPSECs) derived from another independent non-twin cohort. Lastly, their target gene expression in the iPSECs was analyzed. Microarray detected 309 plasma-microRNAs in MMD-discordant monozygotic twins that were also detected in the non-twin cohort. Principal component analysis of the plasma-microRNA expression level demonstrated distinct 2 groups separated by MMD and healthy control in the twin- and non-twin cohorts. Of these, differential up-regulations of hsa-miR-6722-3p/-328-3p were validated in the plasma of MMD (Imposed threshold: absolute log2 expression fold change (logFC) > 0.26 for the twin cohort; absolute logFC > 0.26, p < 0.05, and q < 0.15 for the non-twin cohort). In MMD derived iPSECs, hsa-miR-6722-3p/-328-3p showed a trend of up-regulation with a 3.0- or higher expression fold change. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that 41 target genes of miR- 6722-3p/-328-3p were significantly down-regulated in MMD derived iPSECs and were involved in STAT3, IGF-1-, and PTEN-signaling, suggesting a potential microRNA- gene expression interaction between circulating plasma and endothelial cells. In conclusion, our MMD-discordant monozygotic twin-based study confirmed a novel circulating microRNA signature in MMD as a potential diagnostic biomarker minimally confounded by genetic heterogeneity. The novel circulating microRNA signature can contribute for the future functional microRNA analysis to find new diagnostic and therapeutic target of MMD.
Project description:We used a multi-omics approach combining transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics to study the impact of over-expression and inhibition of the microRNA miR-223, a pleiotropic regulator of metabolic-related disease, in the RAW monocyte-macrophage cell line. We analyzed the levels of proteins, mRNAs, and metabolites in order to identify genes involved in miR-223 regulation, to determine candidate disease biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets. We observed that both up- and down-regulation of miR-223 induced profound changes in the mRNA, protein and metabolite profiles in RAW cells. Microarray-based transcriptomics evidenced a change in 120 genes that were linked predominantly to histone acetylation, bone remodeling and RNA regulation. In addition, 30 out the 120 genes encoded long noncoding RNAs. The nanoLC-MS/MS revealed that 52 proteins were significantly altered when comparing scramble, pre- and anti-miR-223 treatments. Sixteen out of the mRNAs coding these proteins genes are predicted to have binding sites for miR-223. CARM-1, Ube2g2, Cactin and Ndufaf4 were confirmed to be miR-223 targets by western blotting. Analyses using Gene Ontology annotations evidenced association with cell death, splicing and stability of mRNAs, bone remodeling and cell metabolism. miR-223 alteration changed the expression of CARM-1, Ube2g2, Cactin and Ndufaf4 during osteoclastogenesis and macrophage, indicating that these genes are potential biomarkers of these processes. The most important discriminant metabolites found in the metabolomics study were found to be hydrophilic amino acids, carboxylic acids linked to metabolism and pyrimidine nucleotides, indicating that changes in miR-223 expression alter the metabolic profile of cells, and may affect their apoptotic and proliferative state.
Project description:WNT signaling is fundamental to bone health and its aberrant activation leads to skeletal pathologies. A heterozygous missense mutation p.C218G in WNT1, a key WNT pathway ligand, leads to severe early-onset osteoporosis with multiple peripheral and spinal fractures. Despite the severe skeletal manifestations, conventional bone markers are normal in mutation-positive patients. The objective of this study was to find novel biomarkers that differentiate between WNT1 mutation-positive and -negative subjects. We evaluated serum levels of 192 miRNAs in 12 mutation-positive (median age 39 years, range 11-76 years) and 12 mutation-negative (35 years, range 9-59 years) subjects from two Finnish families. The results indicate significant differences in circulating miRNA profiles with 2 upregulated (miR-18a-3p, miR-223-3p) and 6 downregulated miRNAs (miR-22-3p, miR-31-5p, miR-34a-5p, miR-143-5p miR-423-5p, miR 423-3p) in the mutation-positive subjects. Three of these (miR-22-3p, miR-34a-5p, and miR-31-5p) are known inhibitors of WNT signaling: miR-22-3p and miR-34a-5p target WNT1 mRNA and miR-31-5p is predicted to bind to the WNT1 3’UTR. Our results suggest that the WNT1 mutation disrupts a feed-back regulation between these miRNAs and WNT1, providing new insights into the pathogenesis of WNT-related bone disorders. Future studies are warranted to explore the potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications of these findings in osteoporosis.
Project description:Introduction: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a major cause of secondary hypertension. The two principal forms of PA are bilateral adrenal hyperplasia (BAH) and aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) whose differentiation is clinically pivotal, due to their different treatments. Adrenal venous sampling (AVS) is considered to be the gold standard for the differentiation of the two clinical entities, but it is invasive, requires great expertise and is unavailable in many centers. There would be a major clinical need for a reliable and easily accessible diagnostic biomarker. Circulating microRNA were shown to be useful as minimally invasive diagnostic markers in many diseases, but their potential applicability in PA has not yet been investigated. Aims: To determine and compare the circulating microRNA expression profiles of AVS-confirmed APA and BAH plasma samples, and to evaluate their applicability as minimally invasive markers. Methods: 81 AVS-confirmed plasma samples were included. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed on 30 EDTA-anticoagulated plasma samples. Significantly differently expressed miRNAs were validated by real-time RT-qPCR on all samples. Results: We have found relative overexpression of miR-30e-5p, miR-30d-5p, miR-223-3p and miR-7-5p in BAH compared to APA by NGS. Validation of 81 samples confirmed significant overexpression (p=0.03) of miR-7-5p. Regarding the microRNA expressional variations, APA is more heterogenous at the miRNA level compared to BAH. Conclusion: miR-7-5p was significantly overexpressed in BAH samples compared to APA samples, but its sensitivity and specificity values are not good enough for introduction to the clinical practice yet.
Project description:The aim of this study was to examine the expression profiles of circulating miRNAs in the serum of patients with high-risk oral lesions (HRLs; oral cancer or carcinoma in situ) and to explore their utility as potential oral cancer biomarkers. Global serum miRNA profiles were generated by quantitative PCR method from 1) patients diagnosed with HRLs and undergoing intent-to-cure surgical treatment (N = 30) and 2) a demographically-matched, normal control group (N = 26). We next honed our list of serum miRNAs associated with disease by reducing the effects of inter-patient variability; we compared serum miRNA profiles from samples taken both before and after tumor resections (N = 10). Based on these analyses, fifteen miRNAs were significantly up-regulated and five were significantly down-regulated based on presence of disease (minimum fold-change >2 in at least 50% of samples, p < 0.05, permutation t-test). Five of these miRNAs (miR-16, let-7b, miR-338-3p, miR-223, and miR-29a) yielded an area under the ROC curve (AUC) >0.8, suggesting utility as non-invasive biomarkers for detection of oral cancer or high grade lesions.
Project description:Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a complex metabolic disorder. Long-term hyperglycemia may induce diabetic keratopathy (DK), which is mainly characterized by delayed corneal epithelial regeneration. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to play regulatory roles during tissue regeneration. However, the molecular mechanism by which miRNAs influence epithelial regeneration in DK is largely unknown. In this study, we performed miRNA and mRNA sequencing of regenerative corneal epithelium tissue from streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic (T1DM) and wild-type mice to screen for differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs. Based on regulatory network analysis, miR-223-5p was selected for subsequent experiments and Hpgds was then identified as a direct target gene. MiR-223-5p downregulation significantly promoted diabetic corneal epithelial wound healing and nerve regeneration. However, the beneficial effects of miR-223-5p inhibition were abolished by an Hpgds inhibitor. Furthermore, mechanistic studies demonstrated that miR-223-5p suppression ameliorated inflammation and enhanced cell proliferation signaling in DK. Taken together, our findings revealed that the regulatory role of miR-223-5p in diabetic corneal epithelial and nerve regeneration by mediating inflammatory processes and cell proliferation signaling. And silencing miR-223-5p may contribute to the development of potential therapeutic strategies for DK.