MicroRNAs Can Improve Gene Expression

 MicroRNAs are a class of non-coding RNAs that play an important role in controlling gene expression. That is, they help cells control the types and amounts of protein they make. MiRNA mainly controls gene expression by binding with messenger RNA(mRNA) in the cell cytoplasm. Instead of immediately translating, the marked mRNA will either be destroyed or have its components recycled, or preserved and translated later. In addition, if the level of a specific miRNA is underexpressed in the cell, the protein that is normally regulated will be overexpressed in the cell. In so, they are inversely proportional.  

A recent research study aimed to better characterize miRNAs involved in glycosylation by probing the miRNA of two glycosylation proteins: ST6GAL 1 and ST6GAL 2. It was previously found that ST6GAL 1 is overactive in pancreatic cancer, interspersing cancerous cells' membranes with 2,6-sialic acid. To determine how miRNAs adjust enzyme expression, a sensor was developed using a gene's regulatory region(where miRNA binding occurs) and a sequence coding for a fluorescent protein. The sensor was expressed in dividing cells. If miRNAs inhibited a protein's translation, the cells' color dims, while if it turned up gene expression, the cells glow brighter. It was discovered that the miRNAs that interact with ST6GAL 2 downregulate its expression, while those that interacted with ST6GAL 1 increased its expression, also increasing levels of 2,6-sialic acid. Mutating potential miRNA binding sites caused upregulation to disappear, proposing that miRNAs directly control gene expression.

This discovery is a major innovation in cancer research. This is because abnormally low levels of miRNA can lead to overexpression in genes that miRNA regulates, leading to cancer development. The correction of these specific miRNAs can normalize the gene regulatory network and signaling pathways, and reverse the phenotype in cancerous cells. 

Interaction Between Host MicroRNAs and the Gut Microbiota in Colorectal Cancer

  

    It is always vital to know what is fairly recent in the world of a geneticist. Learning which method of sequencing will help the process of depicting snips.  The research article, Interaction between host microRNAs and the gut microbiota in colorectal cancer. ASM, 3(3): 1-13, has found microRNA plays apart as a "host-microbiome" in colorectal cancer.

    “It is important to note that our study uses 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize microbiome taxonomic composition and computationally predicted pathway composition using PICRUSt v1.0.0 (71). Although this method is widely used, metagenomic shotgun sequencing can be more accurate and informative in understanding the functional makeup of a microbial community. Similarly, to impute miRNA functional profiles, we used an in silico prediction method, miRPath (71, 72). While both of these methods have been rigorously tested and validated with experimental data, the results remain predictions and may not represent the real biological system (71, 72). Another limitation of our approach is that it identifies correlations and not causal relationships. Nevertheless, this approach allows us to generate a microbiome- and miRNA transcriptome-wide characterization of potential interactions, which shed light on potential new mechanisms of host-microbiome interactions.” (Yuan et al 2018). This study is using specific techniques to receive their answers. It then shows these techniques do have their benefits with certain aspects but has its drawbacks

    For an article similar to this please click here. 

Analysis of dog genome will provide insight into human disease

An important model in studying human disease, the non-coding RNA of the canine genome is an essential starting point for evolutionary and biomedical studies, according to a new study led by The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC).

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that play a crucial role in regulating gene expression in animals and plants. Using the latest dog genome assembly and small RNA sequences of nine different dog tissues including skin, blood, ovaries and testes, scientists from TGAC have identified 91 novel miRNAs.

This discovery provides a significant opportunity not only to enhance our understanding of how miRNAs regulate a variety of biological processes in an important model species for studying human diseases, but can lead to further, similar research into the role that miRNAs play in animal domestication.

Looking at the domestic dog and how their miRNA can be used to learn more information on human disease is pretty neat, being exposed to many of the same conditions as humans.

Links to original article here and more information here