Jan

29

microRNA-146a

Filed Under Technical Article | Leave a Comment

While it is clear now that microRNAs play an important regulatory role in nearly all areas of biology, what may be more interesting is the breath of function of just a single microRNA.  It is estimated that microRNAs regulate up to 60% of all genes and some say that “each microRNA can target hundreds of genes” and “a single microRNA can regulate entire networks of genes”. So here is an interesting look at a single microRNA that has a far-reaching effect in many biological systems.

Several studies have demonstrated the functional role of microRNA-146a in the immune response. MicroRNA-146a feedback inhibits production in macrophages, is upregulated by HSV-1 infection, has been associated with proinflammatory signaling in stressed brain cells and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain, modulates CFH gene expression to regulate an inflammatory response, and plays a functional role in T lymphocyte-mediated immune response. These and other studies demonstrate the great potential for anti-miRNAs as an effective therapeutic strategy against pathogenic inflammatory signaling.

Additionally, there have been many reports describing microRNA-146a’s role in cancer.  MicroRNA-146a suppresses prostate cancer transformation from androgen-dependent to -independent cells, suppresses a  kinase coding gene which reduces cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis to human bone marrow endothelial cell monolayers, and is dysregulated by latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) which contributes substantially to the oncogenic potential of Epstein-Barr virus. It is projected that microRNA-146a and other microRNAs may one day become biomarkers for clinical diagnosis of several types of cancer.

  1. Curtale G, Citarella F, Carissimi C, Goldoni M, Carucci N, Fulci V, Franceschini D, Meloni F, Barnaba V, Macino G. (2010) An emerging player in the adaptive immune response: microRNA-146a is a modulator of IL-2 expression and activation-induced cell death in T lymphocytes. Blood 115(2), 265-73. [abstract]
  2. Hou J, Wang P, Lin L, Liu X, Ma F, An H, Wang Z, Cao X. (2009) MicroRNA-146a feedback inhibits RIG-I-dependent Type I IFN production in macrophages by targeting TRAF6, IRAK1, and IRAK2. J Immunol 183(3), 2150-58.  [abstract]
  3. Hill JM, Zhao Y, Clement C, Neumann DM, Lukiw WJ.  (2009) HSV-1 infection of human brain cells induces miRNA-146a and Alzheimer-type inflammatory signaling.  Neuroreport  20(16), 1500-505.  [abstract]
  4. Lukiw WJ, Zhao Y, Cui JG.  (2008) An NF-kappaB-sensitive micro RNA-146a-mediated inflammatory circuit in Alzheimer disease and in stressed human brain cells. J Biol Chem 283(46), 31315-22.  [abstract]
  5. Cameron JE, Yin Q, Fewell C, Lacey M, McBride J, Wang X, Lin Z, Schaefer BC, Flemington EK. (2008) The Epstein-Barr Virus latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) induces cellular microRNA-146a, a modulator of lymphocyte signaling pathways. J Virol 82(4), 1946-58. [abstract]
  6. Lin SL, Chiang A, Chang D, Ying SY. (2008) Loss of mir-146a function in hormone-refractory prostate cancer. RNA 14(3), 417-24.  [abstract]

Jan

25

Customer Publication – Peptide Microarrays

Filed Under New Customer Publications | Leave a Comment

Identification and Sequence Composition Characterization of Chondroitin Sulfate-Binding Peptides through Peptide Array Screening

Researchers at Arizona State University made use of LC Sciences Custom Peptide Microarray Service and demonstrated an effective methodology to identify and characterize Chrondroitin sulfate (CS) binding peptides for sequence composition. 

Butterfield K, Caplan M, Panitch A. (2010) Identification and Sequence Composition Characterization of Chondroitin Sulfate-Binding Peptides through Peptide Array Screening. Biochemistry [Epub ahead of print]. [abstract]

Jan

20

Seminar – MicroRNA Discovery & Profiling

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Presented by – Dr. Christoph Eicken & Dr. Qi Zhu, LC Sciences
12:00 pm Conference Room 2

as part of – Texas Medical Center BioResearch Product Faire

Houston, TX (Marriott Medical Center) – January 16, 2010

Jan

19

We have a winner!

Filed Under Company News | 1 Comment

ipodCongratulations to Lauren Detlefsen at the University of Kentucky.  She was selected by random drawing as the winner of our iPod touch giveaway at this year’s Plant & Animal Genomics Conference.  We also want to thank everyone who turned in a survey with interesting points of view on microRNA study.

Jan

11

Plant & Animal Genomes Conference

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IMG_0409LC Sciences is at the Plant & Animal Genomes Conference today and tomorrow.  Come by to visit  us at booth #509 and hear more about our microRNA discovery and analysis services.

Jan

8

Deep Sequencing is Enabling microRNA Study in Any Species

Filed Under Information | Leave a Comment

One of the limitations of microarray expression profiling is the requirement of prior sequence information, to be used for probe design.  Until recently, this has been limited mostly to that found in public databases (i.e. miRBase), these data having been gathered mainly through a combination of bioinformatics and extensive cloning experiments.  In contrast, deep sequencing is not dependent on any prior sequence information, instead providing information about all RNA species in the sample and allowing for discovery of novel microRNAs or other types of small RNAs.  Thus providing an excellent tool for those studying species where limited sequence information is currently available.  Additionally, new sequence information provided by deep sequencing can be used to design microarray probe content for future large scale expression studies.

Deep sequencing identifies novel and conserved microRNAs in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.).
Zhao CZ, Xia H, Frazier TP, Yao YY, Bi YP, Li AQ, Li MJ, Li CS, Zhang BH, Wang XJ.
BMC Plant Biol. 2010 Jan 5;10(1):3.

Genome-wide identification of Schistosoma japonicum microRNAs using a deep-sequencing approach.
Huang J, Hao P, Chen H, Hu W, Yan Q, Liu F, Han ZG.
PLoS One. 2009 Dec 8;4(12):e8206.

Novel microRNAs uncovered by deep sequencing of small RNA transcriptomes in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and Brachypodium distachyon (L.) Beauv.
Wei B, Cai T, Zhang R, Li A, Huo N, Li S, Gu YQ, Vogel J, Jia J, Qi Y, Mao L.
Funct Integr Genomics. 2009 Nov;9(4):499-511.

Abundant and dynamically expressed miRNAs, piRNAs, and other small RNAs in the vertebrate Xenopus tropicalis.
Armisen J, Gilchrist MJ, Wilczynska A, Standart N, Miska EA.
Genome Res. 2009 Oct;19(10):1766-75.

Deep sequencing of Brachypodium small RNAs at the global genome level identifies microRNAs involved in cold stress response.
Zhang J, Xu Y, Huan Q, Chong K.
BMC Genomics. 2009 Sep 23;10:449.

Genome-wide Medicago truncatula small RNA analysis revealed novel microRNAs and isoforms differentially regulated in roots and nodules.
Lelandais-Brière C, Naya L, Sallet E, Calenge F, Frugier F, Hartmann C, Gouzy J, Crespi M.
Plant Cell. 2009 Sep;21(9):2780-96.

High throughput sequencing of microRNAs in chicken somites.
Rathjen T, Pais H, Sweetman D, Moulton V, Munsterberg A, Dalmay T.
FEBS Lett. 2009 May 6;583(9):1422-6.

Deep sequencing of tomato short RNAs identifies microRNAs targeting genes involved in fruit ripening.
Moxon S, Jing R, Szittya G, Schwach F, Rusholme Pilcher RL, Moulton V, Dalmay T.
Genome Res. 2008 Oct;18(10):1602-9.

Identification of novel and candidate miRNAs in rice by high throughput sequencing.
Sunkar R, Zhou X, Zheng Y, Zhang W, Zhu JK.
BMC Plant Biol. 2008 Feb 29;8:25.

Jan

8

Seminar – microRNA Discovery and Analysis

Filed Under Events | Leave a Comment

Presented by – Dr. Christoph Eicken & Dr. Qi Zhu, LC Sciences
12:00 pm Conference Room 2

as part of – Texas Medical Center BioResearch Product Faire

Houston, TX (Marriott Medical Center) – January 16, 2010

also, Please visit us at Booth #48

The study of microRNA (miRNA) is growing rapidly as researchers discover new miRNAs and uncover the importance of these small regulatory elements linked to a wide range of biological functions.  Contributing to the rapid rate of new discoveries is the development of several new advanced technologies such as high-throughput sequencing and custom microfluidic arrays.  The increasing availability of these technologies makes the discovery of new sequences in lesser understood organisms now routinely possible.  A straightforward process of discovery, confirmation, and validation is commonly employed. ovals

Jan

8

Plant & Animal Genomes Conference

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p&ag_2010_header

Plant & Animal Genomes XVIII Conference
Jan 9 – 13, 2010 – San Diego, CA     Visit LC Sciences at Booth #509

The Premier and Largest Ag-Genomics Meeting in the World

5 Reasons to Select LC Sciences for your microRNA Profiling Studies in Agriculturally Important Species

  • 100% miRBase Coverage – Version 14.0 – 10883 microRNAs – 115 species
  • 100% Plant Database Coverage – Version 1.0 of the Plant microRNA Database – 8433 microRNAs covering 121 plant species
  • Experience – More than 6000 samples processed since 2005 – Over 130 customer publications
  • Custom Microarrays – Expression profiling of any species
  • Deep Sequencing – Discovery or novel small RNAs in any species