Cardiovascular Diseases ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; genetics

MicroRNAs (miRNAs,miR) are small, noncoding RNAs with 21-23 nucleotides. MicroRNA-29 (miR-29), a newly discovered miRNAs, is closely related with fibrosis diseases. MiR-29 directly suppresses the expression of a variety of extracellular matrix components and regulates signaling pathways associated with fibrosis. The serum level of miR-29 in patients with liver disease is consistent with the degree of liver cirrhosis.
Extracellular Matrix ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; blood ; genetics ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; genetics ; Signal Transduction

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression profiles changes of miRNA in apheresis platelets after 1, 3 and 5 days of storage. METHODS: The apheresis platelets were collected from 20 volunteer blood donors. After mixing fully, the platelets were stored in a shaker with (22±2) ℃ horizontal oscillation. The samples were taken on the 1st, 3rd and 5th day, and used to sequence for miRNAs by DNA nanoball (DNB) sequencing technology, which were named as C_1, C_3 and C_5, respectively. The expression level of platelets miRNA was standardized by transcripts per kilobase million (TPM) algorithm. MiRNAs with P-value < 0.001 and the expression difference of more than two times were considered as significant difference between two groups. The expression of miRNAs was verified by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: By DNB sequencing, there were 688, 730, and 679 platelet miRNAs expressed in C_1, C_3 and C_5 group, respectively. Cluster analysis showed that the expression profile of miRNAs changed significantly. The expression level of the first 20 high abundance miRNAs was about 4/5 of the total amounts of expressed miRNAs in each group, which the top five miRNAs were miR-21-5p, miR-26a-5p, miR-199a-3p, miR-126-3p, and let-7f-5p. The correlation of high abundance platelet miRNAs among the three groups was high (R2=0.876, R2=0.979, R2=0.937, respectively) and the differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Compared with the differential expression of platelet miRNAs with more than 1 000 TPM in the C_3 and C_1 group, there were 6 differentially expressed miRNAs, including 3 up-regulated (miR-146a-5p, miR-379-5p, and miR-486-5p) and 3 down-regulated (miR-652-3p, miR-142-5p, and miR-7-5p). While in the C_5 and C_1 group, there were 4 differentially expressed miRNAs, including 2 up-regulated (miR-146a-5p and let-7b-5p) and 2 down-regulated (miR-30d-5p and miR-142-5p). Compared with the differentially expression of platelet miRNAs between 1-1 000 TPM in the C_3 and C_1 group, there were 133 differentially expressed miRNAs, in which 99 were up-regulated and 34 were down-regulated. While in the C_5 and C_1 group, there were 77 differentially expressed miRNAs, in which 31 were up-regulated and 46 were down-regulated. The six selected differentially expressed miRNAs verified by RT-qPCR were consistent with those of sequencing. CONCLUSION The expression profiles of platelets miRNAs change significantly among 1, 3, and 5 d of storage in vitro.
Blood Component Removal ; Blood Platelets ; Cluster Analysis ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Humans ; MicroRNAs/genetics*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes of gene sequencing and proteomics of apheresis platelet (AP) exosomes in different storage periods and predict the function of AP exosomes in different storage periods. METHODS: Platelets at different storage periods of 0 day (D0), 3 day (D3) and 5 day (D5) were collected, exosomes were extracted with Gradient centrifugation; gene sequencing and proteomic analysis were used to analyze the exosomes, and biological functions of platelet exosomes were analyzed and predicted by bioinformatics. Liquid mass spectrometry (LMS) was used to detect the changes and function prediction of exosomes proteins. The small RNA sequencing library was prepared, and the constructed library was sequenced and bioinformatics technology was used for data analysis. RESULTS: AP exosome iTRAQ protein analysis showed that AP exosomes stored in D3 with 55 up-regulated proteins and 94 down-regulated proteins (P<0.05, FC<0.83 or FC>1.2), while AP exosomes stored in D5 with 292 up-regulated proteins and 53 down-regulated proteins (P<0.05, FC<0.83 or FC>1.2) as compared with D0. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the proteins were mainly involved in transport and metabolism, immune system, cancer, membrane transport and other processes. There were statistically significant differences between AP exosome miRNAs in different storage days (P<0.01). The number of miRNA up-regulated and down-regulated was 374 and 255 as compared with the number of platelet exosomes miRNA stored in D3 and D0, while that was 297 and 242 in D5 and D0, and 252 and 327 in D5 and D3, respectively. The target genes of differential platelet exosome miRNAs were analyzed by GO enrichment. Target genes of differential miRNA were mainly involved in membrane composition, mainly played molecular functions binding to proteins, and participated in biological processes of transcriptional regulation. CONCLUSION The exosome differential proteins and miRNAs in D5 are significantly different from those in the D0 of APs, and they are involved in various biological processes.
Blood Component Removal ; Blood Platelets/metabolism* ; Exosomes/metabolism* ; Humans ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Proteomics

OBJECTIVETo screen out differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in the plasma of children with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA), to determine the expression of miR-9-1 in plasma and to preliminarily evaluate the significance of miR-9-1 as a biomarker in MMA.

METHODSPlasma was obtained from 17 MMA children, 10 hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) children without MMA (HHcy group), and 10 normal controls. Of 17 MMA children, 12 had HHcy (MMA+HHcy group), and 5 had no HHcy (MMA group). The differentially expressed miRNAs were screened out by miRNA microarray. Differentially expressed miR-9-1 was selected, and plasma miR-9-1 levels were determined by RT-PCR. Urine was collected from MMA patients who received vitamin B12 treatment, and plasma miR-9-1 levels were determined by RT-PCR after treatment.

RESULTSThe miRNA microarray analysis showed that 26 miRNAs were differentially expressed, among which 16 miRNAs (including miR-9-1) were down-regulated over 2 times, while 10 miRNAs were up-regulated over 2 times. The MMA+HHcy , MMA and HHcy groups had significantly down-regulated miR-9-1 compared with the normal control group (P<0.01). The patients who showed a good response to vitamin B12 treatment had significantly increased plasma miR-9-1 levels, without significant difference compared with the normal control group.

CONCLUSIONSPlasma miR-9-1 is significantly down-regulated in MMA patients, but it is significantly up-regulated after vitamin B12 treatment, suggesting that miR-9-1 may act as a biomarker in monitoring the progression of MMA.

Adolescent ; Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; genetics ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia ; genetics ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether miR-492 is involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of OK blood group antigen expression on red blood cells.

METHODSTwo 3'-UTR fragments of the BSG gene were synthesized with a chemical method, which respectively encompassed the BSG rs8259 TT or BSG rs8259 AA sites. The fragments were added with Xho I and Not I restriction enzyme cutting sites at both ends and cloned into a pUC57 vector, which in turn was constructed into a psiCHECK-2 vector and verified by sequencing. K562 cells were transfected with various combinations of miR-492 mimic and constructed psiCHECK2-BSG-T or psiCHECK2-BSG-A recombinant plasmid. A blank control group was set up. Each transfection experiment was repeated three times. The activity of Renilla reniformis luciferase was determined and normalized with that of firefly luciferase, and detected with a dual-luciferase reporter assay system. The data were subjected to statistical analysis.

RESULTSThe sequencing results confirmed that the recombinant psiCHECK2 plasmids containing the BSG rs8259 TT or rs8259 AA sites were constructed successfully. The results of dual-luciferase report gene detection showed that the miR-492 mimic could significantly inhibit psiCHECK2-BSG-T at a concentration over 100 nmol/L. However, it could not inhibit psiCHECK-BSG-A.

CONCLUSIONmiR-492 may be involved in the regulation of OK antigen expression on red blood cells with the BSG rs8259 TT genotype.

Basigin ; genetics ; Blood Group Antigens ; genetics ; Erythrocytes ; immunology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Genotype ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of serum miR-17-92 cluster in the diagnosis of retinoblastoma (RB).

METHODSSerum samples were collected from 20 children with RB and 20 healthy controls. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the expression of miR-17-92 cluster. The expression of miR-17-92 cluster was compared between children with different stages of RB and the changes in the expression of miR-17-92 cluster after multimodality therapy were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to investigate the value of serum miR-17-92 cluster in the diagnosis of RB.

RESULTSCompared with the healthy controls, the children with RB had significantly higher relative expression of miR-17-3P, miR-17-5P, miR-18a, and miR-20a in serum (P<0.05), and miR-18a showed the greatest increase. There were no significant differences in the relative expression of miR-19a, miR-19b-1, and miR-92a-1 between children with RB and healthy controls (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in the expression of miR-17-5P, miR-17-3P, miR-18a, and miR-20a between the children with early-to-moderate stage of RB and those with advanced stage of RB (P>0.05), but there were significant reductions after multimodality therapy (P<0.05). In the diagnosis of RB, the areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) for serum miR-17-3P, miR-17-5P, miR-18a, and miR-20a were 0.770, 0.755, 0.828, and 0.665 respectively, and miR-18a had the largest AUC, with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 65%.

CONCLUSIONSmiR-17-3P, miR-17-5P, miR-18a, and miR-20a are highly expressed in the serum of children with RB, and miR-18a may be used as a new marker for the diagnosis of RB.

Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; ROC Curve ; Retinoblastoma ; blood ; diagnosis ; genetics

Sex differences are widely observed under various circumstances ranging from physiological processes to therapeutic responses, and a myriad of sex-biased genes have been identified. In recent years, transcriptomic datasets of microRNAs (miRNAs), an important class of non-coding RNAs, become increasingly accessible. However, comprehensive analysis of sex difference in miRNA expression has not been performed. Here, we identified the differentially-expressed miRNAs between males and females by examining the transcriptomic datasets available in public databases and conducted a systemic analysis of their biological characteristics. Consequently, we identified 73 female-biased miRNAs (FmiRs) and 163 male-biased miRNAs (MmiRs) across four tissues including brain, colorectal mucosa, peripheral blood, and cord blood. Our results suggest that compared to FmiRs, MmiRs tend to be clustered in the human genome and exhibit higher evolutionary rate, higher expression tissue specificity, and lower disease spectrum width. In addition, functional enrichment analysis of miRNAs show that FmiR genes are significantly associated with metabolism process and cell cycle process, whereas MmiR genes tend to be enriched for functions like histone modification and circadian rhythm. In all, the identification and analysis of sex-biased miRNAs together could provide new insights into the biological differences between females and males and facilitate the exploration of sex-biased disease susceptibility and therapy.
Biological Evolution ; Female ; Genome, Human ; Humans ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; genetics ; Organ Specificity ; Sex Characteristics ; Transcriptome

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplam (GEP-NEN) is a rare group of tumors with its incidence rising significantly in recent decades. Because of the late presentation of the disease and limitations in conventional biomarkers, about 50% of GEP-NEN patients manifests advanced disease when diagnosed. Therefore, it is vital to identify circulating biomarkers which can not only be used for early diagnosis but also accurately evaluating the biological behavior of GEP-NEN. This review summarizes the advances of circulating biomarkers in diagnosing and evaluating efficacy of treatment in GEP-NEN. Well-known circulating biomarkers include chromogranin A (CgA), pancreastatin (PST), chromogranin B (CgB), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and pancreatic peptide(PP). Novel biomarkers including circulating tumor cell(CTC), microRNA and NETest are promising biomarkers with potential clinical benefit, but further researches are needed before their clinical applications.
Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Chromogranin A ; blood ; Chromogranin B ; blood ; chemistry ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; blood ; chemistry ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; blood ; chemistry ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; blood ; chemistry ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Pancreatic Polypeptide ; blood ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; blood

Animals ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; genetics ; metabolism ; Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; genetics ; metabolism ; Prognosis