Year: 2022

BIG PICTURE. "We analyzed all publicly available microRNAs, a total of 34,612 from 194 species, with 1,102 features derived from the microRNA sequence and structure. Through in-depth bioinformatics analysis, 8 groups of discriminative features have been used to characterize human circulating microRNAs and infer the likelihood that a microRNA will get transferred into human circulation." https://lnkd.in/eVc5i_G View in LinkedIn

MASSIVE EFFECTORS. "In animal cells, miRNAs inhibit translation or stability of mRNA transcripts by binding to them with largely imperfect complementarity. By recognition of hundreds of mRNA transcripts, a single miRNA can shift the entire transcription profile of a cell, consistent with a pivotal role for miRNAs in establishing and maintaining tissue identity." https://lnkd.in/eci-H_v View in LinkedIn

EXTRACELLULAR POPULATION. "According to current knowledge, extracellular miRNAs may be actively secreted by donor cells via membranous vesicles, or just merely by-products of cell death and released passively into the outer space after the cell membranes lose integrity." https://lnkd.in/ejyM8yt View in LinkedIn

MICRO-RNAS IN FOOD. "microRNAs have been extensively discovered in various dietary resources including plants (e.g. rice and tomato) and animals (e.g. milk and meats). Given the broad implications of microRNA in health and disease, research enthusiasm for functional impacts of exogenous food microRNA in human cellular phenotypes has soared." https://lnkd.in/ej7XF-E View in LinkedIn

CROSS-KINGDOM REGULATION. "Since a plant miRNA (miR168) cross-regulating a mammalian transcript was reported, miRNA-mediated cross-kingdom communication has become one of the most compelling but controversial topics." https://lnkd.in/ecyjYr4 View in LinkedIn

HOT QUESTION. "Could plant miRNAs be regulating gene expression within the consumer?" https://lnkd.in/eci-H_v View in LinkedIn

HOMOLOGOUS FUNCTIONALITY. "A high degree of parallelism is found in the molecular basis of miRNA biogenesis and action in plants and animals. Recent studies interestingly suggest a potential cross-kingdom action of plant-derived miRNAs, through dietary intake, in regulating mammalian gene expression...the source and scope of plant miRNAs detected in mammalian specimens remain controversial." https://lnkd.in/e_qsx9z View in LinkedIn

THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL. "Recently, miRNA-mediated cross-kingdom communication has become an interesting but controversial topic since it was first reported in 2011. These findings provide new insights for genetic regulation by food ingestion and raise the prospect of engineering food or using oral small nucleic acid to prevent or cure diseases." What is the basis for herbal medicines? https://lnkd.in/ecyjYr4 View in LinkedIn

WIDE EPIGENETIC CONTROL. "Supposing that microRNAs might traverse the gastrointestinal tract, microRNAs might wander via the food-chain and even master regulatory microRNAs might be envisaged that could influence gene expression in a wide range of species and might thereby link different species via common gene expression signatures." https://lnkd.in/eDgvwR4 View in LinkedIn

FASCINATING TWIST. "Since many microRNA genes are located in the non-protein coding “dark matter” of the genome, a novel function of this “dark matter” is raised regarding interindividual and cross-species epigenetic communication via information transfer by gene products coded by the non-protein coding part of the genome." Worth re-reading. View in LinkedIn