New PHANU study on microRNA markers

[alex3619]

Cytotoxic lymphocyte microRNAs as prospective biomarkers for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Brenu EW, Ashton KJ, van Driel M, Staines DR, Peterson D, Atkinson GM, Marshall-Gradisnik SM.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22572093


CONCLUSIONS:

Collectively these miRNAs have been associated with apoptosis, cell cycle, development and immune function. Changes in miRNAs in cytotoxic cells may reduce the functional capacity of these cells and disrupt effective cytotoxic activity along with other immune functions in CFS/ME patients.


There is someone I would like to thank for making me aware of this but I cannot name them due to privacy considerations - but thank you anyway.

Bye, Alex

 

[alex3619]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroRNA
http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-MicroRNA.aspx

Micro RNA is a tiny piece of RNA that can bind to other RNA. Doing this stops the other RNA from working. Its one way to silence genes. The pattern of how genes are switched off can give us clues to what is happening.

 

[SOC]

Three more cheers for Bond Uni (soon to be somewhere else) gang!

I think I only understand about half the words in the abstract , but I get that these microRNA molecules are underexpressed in our cytotoxic cells. Do we know what these particular underexpressed microRNA molecules do (or should be doing if they were working)? Or we still at the we-don't-know-what-this-means-but-it-doesn't-look-good stage?

 

[SOC]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroRNA
http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-MicroRNA.aspx

Micro RNA is a tiny piece of RNA that can bind to other RNA. Doing this stops the other RNA from working. Its one way to silence genes. The pattern of how genes are switched off can give us clues to what is happening.

Geez, Alex! You got a time machine over there?

 

[alex3619]

Hi SOC, close. I am monitoring the forums for responses to my blog - saw your message and replied within minutes. Oh darn, should have claimed I had precognition ... oh, well. Bye, Alex

PS My interpretation of what this means is that the NK cells and T cells both lack sufficient suppression leading them to be doing things they shouldn't be doing.

PPS To Little Bluestem in the next post, I laughed at precognitive dysfunction.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Oh darn, should have claimed I had precognition .

Buts if you have ME/CFS, don't you have precognitive dysfunction?
{Sorry, couldn't resist }

 

[mellster]

This is interesting which also could explain the increased cytokine activity. I am still looking for a reason why reduced NK cell activity/numbers would correlate with increased cytokine activity and I don't think a Th2 shift can explain this. Maybe there is some sort of a feedback leading the body to cut back on NK cell numbers/activity as long as they are doing "things they are not supposed to do" and maybe they are partially responsible themselves for increased cytokine activity/secretion. cheers

 

[Pyrrhus]

Full abstract:

Background:
Immune dysfunction associated with a disease often has a molecular basis. A novel group of molecules known as microRNAs (miRNAs) have been associated with suppression of translational processes involved in cellular development and proliferation, protein secretion, apoptosis, immune function and inflammatory processes. MicroRNAs may be implicated in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), where immune function is impaired. The objective of this study was to determine the association between miRNAs in cytotoxic cells and CFS/ME.

Methods:
Natural Killer (NK) and CD8(+)T cells were preferentially isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells from all participants (CFS/ME, n=28; mean age=41.8±9.6 years and controls, n=28; mean age=45.3±11.7 years), via negative cell enrichment. Following total RNA extraction and subsequent synthesis of cDNA, reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to determine the expression levels of nineteen miRNAs.

Results:
There was a significant reduction in the expression levels of miR-21, in both the NK and CD8(+)T cells in the CFS/ME sufferers. Additionally, the expression of miR-17-5p, miR-10a, miR-103, miR-152, miR-146a, miR-106, miR-223 and miR-191 was significantly decreased in NK cells of CFS/ME patients in comparison to the non-fatigued controls.

Limitations:
The results from these investigations are not yet transferable into the clinical setting, further validatory studies are now required.

Conclusions:
Collectively these miRNAs have been associated with apoptosis, cell cycle, development and immune function. Changes in miRNAs in cytotoxic cells may reduce the functional capacity of these cells and disrupt effective cytotoxic activity along with other immune functions in CFS/ME patients.