Role of Slit2/Robo1 signaling in development of neural tube and somites in early chick embryos

AIM: To investigate the effects of Slit2/Robo1 signaling on the development of neural tube and somites in early chick embryos. METHODS: Plasmid DNA was injected into the lumen of the neural tube from dorsal side of HH10 chick embryo using microinjection, and then in ovo electroporation was performed at half-side of neural tube while another side served as control. Subsequent 10-hour incubation was carried on after transfection until the development of neural tube and neural crest cells migrating to somites were investigated using the methods of immunofluorescence and in situ hybridization. RESULTS: Blocking Slit2/Robo1 signaling resulted in abnormal development of neural tube, while the expression of Slug and neural crest cells migrating to somites pathway were abnormal as well.CONCLUSION: Slit2/Robo1 signaling can affect the expression of Slug and play an important role in the fusion of neural fold, the trajectory of generation and migration of neural crest cells, and the differentiation of somites in early chick embryos.     

Role of N-cadherin in cranial neural crest delamination during chick embryogenesis

AIM: To investigate the role of N-cadherin in the delamination of neural crest cells. METHODS: The normal expression of N-cadherin in neural tube was identified using in situ hybridization. The cells with N-cadherin over expression were obtained by transfection of wild-type N-cadherin (wt-N-cadherin),and the cells with N-cadherin silencing expression were obtained by transfection of dominant-negative N-cadherin (dn-N-cadherin). The migration of cranial neural crest cells was determined by the technique of immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Either overexpression or down-regulation of N-cadherin significantly affected the migration of cranial neural crest cells. CONCLUSION: Delamination and migration of the cranial neural crest cells rely on the relative N-cadherin expression in the neural tube during neurulation.     

Expression of genes in MAPKs pathway in development of neural tube defects induced by hyperthermia

AIM: To study the expression and the role of ERK1/2 and JNK1/2 of MAPKs pathways in the development of neural tube defects induced by hyperthermia. METHODS: The animal models of golden hamster were produced by hyperthermia. The expression of ERK1/2 and JNK1/2, and levels of their phosphorylation were measured by Western blotting in control group and hyperthermia group. RESULTS: p-ERK1/2 steadily expressed in each control group, and the expression of p-ERK1/2 significantly decreased, which was different from that in the corresponding control group (P<0.05). The activity of p-JNK1/2 increased in hyperthermia group and the amount of p-JNK1/2 increased as compared to control group. The peak appeared at 16 h after exposed to hyperthermia (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Hyperthermia, which induces a decrease in p-ERK1/2 expression and increases the expression of p-JNK1/2 of MAPKs pathway, results in the unbalance of cell proliferation and apoptosis, and induces neural tube defects.     

枣树阶段转变相关microRNA家族的鉴定及其表达分析

与其他果树相比,枣树具有童期短、成花快的特征.已有研究表明,多个microRNA(miRNA)家族参与植物阶段转变和开花时间调控等过程.研究枣树阶段转变相关的miRNA家族对果树童期调控具有重要意义.以枣实生后代植株不同发育阶段(节位)的当年生枝(枣吊)为材料,通过Small RNA测序,在童期、过渡期和成年期等3个时...     

Protocol: a highly sensitive RT-PCR method for detection and quantification of microRNAs

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs with a critical role in development and environmental responses. Efficient and reliable detection of miRNAs is an essential step towards understanding their roles in specific cells and tissues. However, gel-based assays currently used to detect miRNAs are very limited in terms of throughput, sensitivity and specificity. Here we provide protocols for detection and quantification of miRNAs by RT-PCR. We describe an end-point and real-time looped RT-PCR procedure and demonstrate detection of miRNAs from as little as 20 pg of plant tissue total RNA and from total RNA isolated from as little as 0.1 μl of phloem sap. In addition, we have developed an alternative real-time PCR assay that can further improve specificity when detecting low abundant miRNAs. Using this assay, we have demonstrated that miRNAs are differentially expressed in the phloem sap and the surrounding vascular tissue. This method enables fast, sensitive and specific miRNA expression profiling and is suitable for facilitation of high-throughput detection and quantification of miRNA expression.     

Differentially expressed microRNAs during solid endosperm development in coconut (Cocos nucifera L.)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of 20–24 nt, endogenously expressed, non-coding RNAs that play important regulatory roles in plants and animals. To identify miRNAs potentially involved in tissue development and compound anabolism, we studied miRNA expression profiles in endosperm of coconut at different developmental stages. Based on the annotation in miRBase (release 10.1), we measured a total of 179 miRNAs in immature (95 expressed miRNAs) and mature tissues (176 expressed miRNAs) using microarrays, respectively. The comparative analyses on miRNA expression profiles between these two groups of tissues showed that 23 miRNAs were up-regulated and nine miRNAs were down-regulated in matured endosperm. We further confirmed the increased expression of four miRNAs and decreased expression of a miRNA in immature endosperm using real-time PCR. Moreover, we computationally predicted the target genes of 32 miRNAs with differential expression (p < 0.01), and identified the lowest-score targets of six miRNAs. Finally, we discussed the potential functional relevance of several differentially expressed miRNAs.     

Pivotal role of microRNAs in cardiac development and heart diseases

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding small RNAs, which bind to the 3'-UTR of target mRNAs and negatively regulate the gene expression. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that miRNAs are involved in many biological processes such as embryo development, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and tumorigenesis. Heart development and heart diseases are complex processes controlled by various signaling pathways. Recent researches indicate the importance of miRNAs in the process of cardiac development and heart diseases. In this review, the role of miRNAs in cardiac development and the pathogenesis of heart diseases are overviewed. The insight into the regulating miRNAs will significantly expand the cardiovascular therapeutic strategies beyond classical pharmacology.     

Functional analysis of differential microRNA expression profile in mouse fibrotic liver tissues induced by CCl4

AIM:To discover the expression profile of microRNAs (miRNAs) in mouse fibrotic liver tissues induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), and to investigate the functions of these differential miRNAs based on the gene ontology (GO) analysis and KEGG Pathway analysis. METHODS:The mice were randomly divided into normal group and model group. Liver fibrosis was induced by subcutaneous injection of CCl4. miRNA expression profile of the liver tissues was assayed by a mouse miRNA microarray (Agilent 12.0). The differential expression of miRNAs between the normal and model mice was screened, and GO analysis and KEGG Pathway analysis were performed to determine the functions of these differential miRNAs. RESULTS:Thirty-nine miRNAs with differential expression were discovered in the model mice compared with the normal mice, among which 23 were up-regulated and 16 were down-regulated. GO analysis and KEGG Pathway analysis indicated that most pathological processes of liver fibrosis regulated by miRNAs included cell proliferation and activation, cell apoptosis, cell cycle, cell adhesion, inflammatory reaction, cell migration, transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling pathway, Wnt signaling pathway and proteometabolism process. GO analysis revealed that the key up-regulated miRNAs were mmu-miR-322, mmu-miR-15b, mmu-miR-195, mmu-miR-200b and mmu-miR-214, and the key down-regulated miRNAs were mmu-miR-16, mmu-miR-130a, mmu-miR-101b, mmu-miR-30a and mmu-miR-30e. Analyzing the target genes screened out by GO analysis and Pathway analysis simultaneously, we found that the key up-regulated miRNAs included mmu-miR-200b, mmu-miR-322, mmu-miR-106b, mmu-miR-23a and mmu-miR-15b, and the key down-regulated miRNAs included mmu-miR-16, mmu-miR-30e, mmu-miR-30c, mmu-miR-30a and mmu-miR-130a. CONCLUSION: Differential expression of miRNAs is discovered in mouse fibrotic liver tissues induced by CCl4 compared with the normal liver tissues. Most of the pathological processes involved in liver fibrosis may be regulated by miRNA, such as cell proliferation and activation, cell adhesion and apoptosis, cell migration and differentiation, metabolism, TGF-β receptor signaling pathway and so on.     

Roles of microRNAs in glioma

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of gene expression. These small, non-coding RNAs are believed to regulate more than one third of protein-coding genes, and have been implicated in the control of many biological processes, including the biology of glioma. The functional significance in some of the miRNAs begins to emerge. This paper reviews the biogenesis of miRNAs, their roles in neuronal development and tumorigenesis of gliomas, and their contribution as tumor biomarkers. Research in this area is quickly gathering pace and is illuminating important aspects of the diseases that may ultimately lead to novel therapeutic interventions, as well as diagnostic and prognostic tools for brain tumors.     

库尔勒香梨9个新miRNA克隆鉴定

利用在小RNA高通量测序试验中筛选出的脱萼组与宿萼组差异表达新miRNA基因,采用 Stem-loop法对总体表达量居前20位、在脱萼组和宿萼组中具有显著性差异表达、在子房和萼片组织中具有显著性差异表达的新miRNA进行成熟体的克隆鉴定、前体序列二级结构分析、qRT-PCR试验以及靶基因预测。结果显示,在不同的样本中有9个新miRNA（novel_miRNA）的成熟体序列以及4个novel_miRNA的表达量与高通量测序结果完全一致,并且预测得到大量具有生物学功能的靶基因。新发现的miRNA可能与‘库尔勒香梨’萼片脱落和宿存有密切关系。     

Microarray-based miRNAs profiling in lower limb arteriosclerosis of diabetic rats

AIM: To establish the profiling of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the lower extremity arterial tissue between diabetic rats with lower limb arteriosclerosis (DAS) and diabetic rats with normal lower limb (DN), and to explore the possible molecular mechanisms involved in aberrant miRNA expression in DAS. METHODS: The rat models of DAS and DN were successfully established. The respective lower extremity arterial tissue was isolated. The total miRNAs were purified for a hybridization detection by miRNA microarray. The results of chip scanning and data were analyzed and verified by RT-qPCR. RESULTS: Ten miRNAs related to DAS, including rno-miR-206-3p, rno-miR-133a-5p, rno-miR-133b-3p, rno-miR-133a-3p, rno-miR-325-5p, rno-miR-675-3p, rno-miR-411-5p, rno-miR-329-3p, rno-miR-335 and rno-miR-126a-3p, were determined. All 10 abnormally expressed miRNAs were up-regulated. The validating results of RT-qPCR confirmed 9 of the miRNAs in line with chip expression. Just rno-miR-335 showed the opposite between PCR detection and microarray result. CONCLUSION: A group of miRNAs in diabetic rats suffering from lower limb arteriosclerosis plays an important role in the vascular atherosclerosis process. The abnormal expression of miRNAs is likely to affect the vascular atherosclerosis process.     

Advances on studies of miR-21 in vascular endothelial function and angiogenesis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs)are a class of non-coding, endogenous, single-stranded small RNA molecules composed of 19~25 nucleotides. miRNAs are widely involved in the process of human life activities. Recent studies have shown that part of miRNAs regulate the vascular endothelial function and angiogenesis. High expression of miRNA-21 is found to play important roles in the cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, cell growth and death of vascular endothelial cells. This review will focus on the recent progress related to miRNAs in vascular endothelial function and angiogenesis, providing a new insight in cardiovascular disease prevention, clinical diagnosis, prognosis and target therapeutics.     

Preliminary study on miRNA expression spectrum related to chemotherapy resistance in colon cancer

AIM: To screen the chemotherapy resistance-related microRNAs (miRNAs) of colon cancer using gene chip technique, and to explore the mechanism of miRNAs regulating chemotherapy resistance. METHODS: Gene chip technique was used to analyze the expression of miRNAs in colon cancer cell line HCT8 and vincristine-resistant cell line HCT8/v, and screen the miRNAs with significantly different expression. The results were verified by RT-qPCR. The target genes of these miRNAs were predicted, and the Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and the signaling pathway analysis of the predicted genes were carried out. RESULTS: Altogether 342 miRNAs with significantly differential expression were selected, in which 190 were up-regulated, and 152 were down-regulated. The verification results of RT-qPCR showed that the expression of miR-125-5p, miR-181c-5p and miR-153-3 was consistent with the results of chip detection. The expression of miR-130a-3p and miR-149-3p was not consistent with the results of chip detection. The results of GO analysis showed that the main pathway of chemotherapy resistance-related genes was RNA polymerase II regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding. The chemotherapy resistance-related genes played roles mainly through positive regulation and are mainly located in intracellular membrane-bound organelles. The results of KEGG analysis showed that the pathways associated with the most enriched chemotherapy resistance-related genes were axon guidance pathway, insulin signaling pathway, and phospholipase D signaling pathway.CONCLUSION: miRNAs are closely related to chemotherapy resistance in colon cancer. Through the researches on miRNAs, we can have a deeper understanding of the mechanism of chemotherapy resistance and provide new ideas for reversing chemotherapy resistance in colon cancer.     

Effect of Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 on oncomiRs expression profile in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE1

AIM: To investigate the differential expression profile between nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE1 and its steady EBV-LMP1-transfected cell line CNE1-LMP1, and to explore the regulatory effect of LMP1 on oncomiRs expression in CNE1 cell line. METHODS: A microRNA array that targets 132 of the most well studied oncomiRs was used to detect the expression profile of CNE1 and CNE1-LMP1. qRT-PCR assay were used to verify the expression data detected by microarray. RESULTS: Among the restricted 132 miRNAs, 30 were detectable. Among which, 30 were expressed in CNE1-LMP1, 19 in CNE1 and 11 were specifically expressed in CNE1-LMP1. Among the 19 shared miRNAs, the expression level of 6 miRNAs (hsa-miR-19b, hsa-miR-17-3p, hsa-miR-22, hsa-miR-149, hsa-miR-150 and hsa-miR-188) elevated over two folds in CNE1-LMP1. No decrease in miRNA expression more than two folds was observed. qRT-PCR confirmed the expression difference of these six miRNAs (P<0.01). Among the 11 specifically expressed miRNAs in CNE1-LMP1, hsa-miR-122a showed the highest expression level surpassing the internal control sample. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that LMP1 may play an important role in regulating the expression of miRNAs in tumor, which may be another important pathway employed by LMP1 in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.     

Effect of miRNAs on apoptotic leukemia cells induced by demethylcantharidin

AIM: To explore the role of miRNA expression in the process of antitumor drug demethylcantharidin (DMC)-induced leukemia cell apoptosis. METHODS: K562 cells were treated with DMC to induce apoptosis. Microarray assessment was performed to detect the changes of miRNAs. The expression of miRNAs was further detected by RT-PCR and real-time PCR. The miRNA-relative genes were analyzed by gene information softwares,and their expression was determined by ELISA analysis. RESULTS: The results of microarray showed that more than 290 miRNAs were differentially expressed after DMC treatment. The expression of miR-16, miR-34 and miR-125 increased at more than 1.5 folds in DMC treatment group determined by RT-PCR and real-time PCR analysis, while both miR-106 and miR-150 were down-expressed over 60％. Using microRNA TargetScan and miRanda analysis software, we found that the expression of oncogenes ( bcl-2, E2F1, E2F3 ) and tumor suppressor genes ( RB1, p53 ) may be regulated by the above miRNAs. The expression of RB1 and P53 proteins significantly increased, while Bcl-2, E2F1 and E2F3 proteins were obviously down-regulated after DMC treatment.CONCLUSION: DMC induces K562 cell apoptosis by regulating the expression of miRNAs and their relative genes.     

Relationship between radioresistance and microRNA in the same genetic background nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

AIM:To discuss the relationship between the discrepancy of microRNA (miRNA) and radioresistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells CNE-2R and CNE-2 on the basis of validating their different radioresistance.METHODS:Following the exposure of X ray on the clones of CNE-2R and CNE-2 cells, the dose-survival curve and biological characteristics of CNE-2R and CNE-2 cells were determined by SigmaPlot software and the linear quadratic model of survival curve analysis.MicroRNAs were detected by μParafloTM microfluidic chip, hybridization images collected by a laser scanner (GenePix 4000B, Molecular Device) and the signals normalized by a LOWESS filter.The relationship between the discrepancy of NPC radioresistance and the expression of miRNA was predicted according to Targetscan3.1 database (http://www.targetscan.org) after analyzing the data.RESULTS:Compared to CNE-2 cells, 37 miRNAs were gain-of-function and 29 miRNAs were loss-of- function in CNE-2R cells among 719 detected miRNAs.12 miRNAs that detective value was more than 2 000 and 2 folds than the other were hsa-miR-200b, hsa-miR-224, hsa-miR-26b, hsa-miR-125a-5p, hsa-miR-205, hsa-let-7e, hsa-let-7g, hsa-miR-19b, hsa-miR-24, hsa-miR-103, hsa-miR-106b and hsa-miR-93.Data showed that the distinct discrepancy of miRNAs was related to radioresistance.CONCLUSION:The discrepancy of miRNAs is present in different radioresistant NPC cell lines and related to radioresistance.     

嫁接对柑橘microRNA表达的影响

以‘锦橙’、‘资阳香橙’、‘飞龙枳’实生苗和‘锦橙’/‘资阳香橙’、‘锦橙’/‘飞龙枳’嫁接苗为试材,通过荧光定量PCR检测miRNA及其靶基因在嫁接苗和实生苗叶片和根系中的表达差异,分析嫁接对柑橘microRNAs及其靶基因表达的影响。结果证明嫁接对柑橘miRNA的表达有直接的影响。嫁接的影响更多地是促进接穗中一些与调控植物生长发育、胁迫应答及激素信号转导相关的miRNA的表达,并抑制了其对应靶基因的表达;而在砧木中,嫁接对根系的影响较多表现为抑制与植物生长发育、胁迫应答相关的miRNA的表达,促进其靶基因的表达。受影响的miRNA的种类及其表达的差异水平在不同砧木间有明显差异。     

梨花芽休眠相关miRNA的鉴定和差异表达分析

为了探究梨花芽休眠进程中miRNA的表达模式和靶基因,利用Solexa测序技术、生物信息学分析和实时荧光定量PCR（qPCR）技术,对内休眠、内休眠解除和生态休眠解除3个时期梨花芽的miRNA进行高通量测序、筛选和鉴定。结果表明,内休眠、内休眠解除和生态休眠解除时期3个样本文库中分别有12 276 226、10 135 952、11 453 981条Unique序列。miRNA主要分布在21 ~ 24 nt之间,其中长度为24 nt的数量最多。共检测到151个已知的miRNA,属于39个不同的家族,并利用生物信息学软件预测到了209个新的miRNAs。比较分析从内休眠进入到生态休眠解除的整个休眠转换时期差异表达的miRNA,筛选出8个miRNA（ahy-miR156b-5p、cpa-miR319、aly-miR172c-3p、aau-miR396、mdm-miR858、aly-miR171b-3p、bdi-miR160f和hbr-miR166a）,其靶基因主要参与转录调控、信号传导等过程。利用qPCR验证了8个miRNA及其8个靶基因的表达。