Lamadrid-Romero M, Díaz-Martínez F, Molina-Hernández A

Language: Spanish
References: 36
Page: 146-153
PDF size: 716.16 Kb.

ABSTRACT

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the translation of messenger RNA into proteins. During the development of the mammalian brain tissue, there is a temporal regulation of the levels of these molecules, which are directly related to specific stages in the formation of the central nervous system; microRNAs play a major role in brain cytoarchitecture. There are multiple alterations in brain function that cannot be explained by genetic causes or detected by conventional methods; for this reason, it is very important to identify molecules that can be proposed as biomarkers in a noninvasive way for pathologies related to alterations upon cell differentiation, proliferation and death or brain tissue organization that may have negative consequences in postnatal life and that can potentially lead to cognitive, motor and social deficits. An alternative is determining the microRNA levels involved in fetal corticogenesis in the maternal serum. In this article, we review some characteristics of these molecules that make them candidates to be proposed as biomarkers of fetal brain development, such as the pathway throught which they are synthesized and released into the bloodstream, their stability, their expression pattern during corticogenesis and their presence in the maternal serum.

REFERENCES

1. Mehler MF, Mattick JS. Non-coding RNAs in the nervous system. J Physiol. 2006; 575: 333-41.

2. Cortez MA, Calin GA. MicroRNA identification in plasma and serum: a new tool to diagnose and monitor diseases. Expert Op Biol Ther. 2009; 9: 703-11.

3. Cai X, Hagedorn CH, Cullen BR. Human microRNAs are processed from capped, polyadenylated transcripts that can also function as mRNAs. RNA. 2004; 10: 1957-66.

4. Lee Y. MicroRNA genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II. EMBO J. 2004; 23: 4051-60.

5. Lee Y. The nuclear RNase III Drosha initiates microRNA processing. Nature. 2003; 425: 415-9.

6. Denli AM. Processing of primary microRNAs by the microprocessor complex. Nature. 2004; 432: 231-5.

7. Lund E. Nuclear export of microRNA precursors. Science. 2004; 303: 95-8.

8. Hutvagner G. A cellular function for the RNA-interference enzyme Dicer in the maturation of the let-7 small temporal RNA. Science. 2001; 293: 834-8.

9. Khvorova AA, Reynolds A, Jayasena SD. Functional siRNAs and miRNAs exhibit strand bias. Cell. 2003; 115: 209-16.

10. Lo YM. Presence of fetal DNA in maternal plasma and serum. Lancet. 1997; 350: 485-7.

11. Ng EK. mRNA of placental origin is readily detectable in maternal plasma. Proc Nat Acad Sci. 2003; 100: 4748-53.

12. Wray AM. Prenatal diagnosis of supernumerary ring chromosome 1: case report and review of the literature. Genet Couns. 2007; 18: 233-41.

13. Chiu RW. Prenatal exclusion of beta thalassaemia major by examination of maternal plasma. Lancet. 2002; 360: 998-1000.

14. Chen X. Characterization of microRNAs in serum: a novel class of biomarkers for diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. Cell Res. 2008; 18: 997-1006.

15. Nadarajah B. Ventricle-directed migration in the developing cerebral cortex. Nature Neurosci. 2002; 5: 218-24.

16. Nadarajah B. Parnavelas Gj. Modes of neuronal migration in the developing cerebral cortex. Nature Rev Neurosci. 2002; 3: 423-32.

17. Nielsen JA. Integrating microRNA and mRNA expression profiles of neuronal progenitors to identify regulatory networks underlying the onset of cortical neurogenesis. BMC Neurosci. 2009; 10: 98.

18. Krichevsky AM. A microRNA array reveals extensive regulation of microRNAs during brain development. RNA. 2003; 9: 1274-81.

19. Miska EA. Microarray analysis of microRNA expression in the developing mammalian brain. Genome Biol. 2004; 5: 68.

20. De Pietri Tonelli D. miRNAs are essential for survival and differentiation of newborn neurons but not for expansion of neural progenitors during early neurogenesis in the mouse embryonic neocortex. Development. 2008; 135: 3911-21.

21. Wu L, Belasco GJ. Micro-RNA regulation of the mammalian lin-28 gene during neuronal differentiation of embryonal carcinoma cells. Mol Cel Biol. 2005; 25: 9198-208.

22. Wienholds E. The microRNA-producing enzyme Dicer1 is essential for zebrafish development. Nature Gen. 2003; 35: 217-8.

23. Carey RG, Li B, DiCicco-Bloom E. Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide anti-mitogenic signaling in cerebral cortical progenitors is regulated by p57Kip2-dependent CDK2 activity. J Neurosci. 2002; 22: 1583-91.

24. Visvanathan J. The microRNA miR-124 antagonizes the anti-neural REST/SCP1 pathway during embryonic CNS development. Genes Dev. 2007; 21: 744-9.

25. Krichevsky AM. Specific microRNAs modulate embryonic stem cell-derived neurogenesis. Stem Cells. 2006; 24: 857-64.

26. Jiang L. Hsa-miR-125a-3p and hsa-miR-125a-5p are downregulated in non-small cell lung cancer and have inverse effects on invasion and migration of lung cancer cells. BMC Cancer. 2010; 10: 318-21.

27. Botto LD. Neural-tube defects. N Engl J Med. 1999; 341: 1509-19.

28. Becerra JE. Diabetes mellitus during pregnancy and the risks for specific birth defects: a population-based case-control study. Pediatrics. 1990; 85: 1-9.

29. Dionne G. Gestational diabetes hinders language development in offspring. Pediatrics. 2008; 122: e1073-9.

30. Phelan SA, Ito M, Loeken MR. Neural tube defects in embryos of diabetic mice: role of the Pax-3 gene and apoptosis. Diabetes. 1997; 46: 1189-97.

31. Sato N. Identification of genes differentially expressed in mouse fetuses from streptozotocin-induced diabetic pregnancy by cDNA subtraction. Endocrinol J. 2008; 55: 317-23.

32. Loeken MR. Advances in understanding the molecular causes of diabetes-induced birth defects. J Soc Gynecol Investig. 2006; 13: 2-10.

33. Zametkin AJ. Cerebral glucose metabolism in adults with hyperactivity of childhood onset. N Engl J Med. 1990; 323: 1361-6.

34. Ernst M. High midbrain [18F]DOPA accumulation in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Am J Psychiat. 1999; 156: 1209-15.

35. Waschbusch DA. A meta-analytic examination of comorbid hyperactive-impulsive-attention problems and conduct problems. Psychol Bull. 2002; 128: 118-50.

36. Chan WY. Proliferation and apoptosis in the developing human neocortex. Anatomical Record. 2002; 267: 261-76.