Project description:Vascular calcification is a complex process and has been associated with aging, diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although there have been several studies studying the role of miRNAs (miRs) in bone osteogenesis, little is known about the role of miRs in vascular calcification and their role in the pathogenesis of vascular abnormalities. Matrix vesicles (MV) are known to play an important role in initiating vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification. In the present study, we performed miRNA microarray analysis to identify the dysregulated miRs between MV and VSMC derived from CKD rats to understand the role of post-transcriptional regulatory networks governed by these miRNAs in vascular calcification and to uncover the differential miRNA content of MV. The percentage of miRNA to total RNA was increased in MV compared to VSMC. Comparison of expression profiles of miRNA by microarray demonstrated 33 miRs to be differentially expressed with the majority (~ 57%) of them down-regulated. Target genes controlled by differentially expressed miRNAs were identified utilizing two different complementary computational approaches Miranda and Targetscan to understand the functions and pathways that may be affected due to the production of MV from calcifying VSMC thereby contributing to the regulation of genes by miRs. We found several processes including vascular smooth muscle contraction, response to hypoxia and regulation of muscle cell differentiation to be enriched. Signaling pathways identified included MAP-kinase and wnt signaling that have previously been shown to be important in vascular calcification. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that miRs are concentrated in MV from calcifying VSMC, and that important functions and pathways are affected by the miRs dysregulation between calcifying VSMC and the MV they produce. This suggests that miRs may play a very important regulatory role in vascular calcification in CKD by controlling an extensive network of post-transcriptional targets. Compare miRNA from matrix vesicles to miRNA from vascular smooth muscle cells that gave rise to the matrix vesicles from 3 sets of MV and VSMC derived from 3 normal and 3 CKD rats

Project description:Objective: To study the uptake by human embryos of extracellular vesicles secreted by the maternal endometrium, and to investigate their miRNA cargo, in order to describe their role in implantation and early embryo development. Design: Prospective descriptive study. Subjects: Healthy women oocyte donors with confirmed fertility and day 5 human blastocysts. Intervention: Endometrial biopsies were collected from healthy oocyte donors undergoing transvaginal ultrasound-guided cyst aspiration for oocyte retrieval. Main Outcome Measures: Extracellular vesicle were isolated from culture media of primary human endometrial epithelial cells by ultracentrifugation. Concentration and size were analyzed by nanoparticle tracking analysis, their morphology visualized by transmission electron microscopy and extracellular vesicle protein markers expression was determined by western blotting. Vesicles were fluorescently labelled with Bodipy-TR ceramide, and their uptake by human blastocysts was analyzed using confocal microscopy. Analysis of the miRNA cargo of extracellular vesicles was performed using miRNAseq, target genes of the most expressed miRNAs were annotated and functional enrichment analysis was performed. Results: Extracellular vesicle characterization revealed a size within 100-300 nm, and expression of extracellular vesicle protein markers HSP70, TSG101, CD9 and CD81. Fluorescent microscopy showed an efficient extracellular vesicle internalization by human blastocysts within 1-2h, being the fluorescent signal stronger in the hatched area of the embryo. miRNAseq described 149 annotated miRNAs and top 37 most expressed miRNAs targeted 6,592 genes. Functional enrichment analysis of these targeted genes indicated that they participate in several processes related to embryo development, oxygen metabolism, cell cycle, cell differentiation, apoptosis, metabolism, cellular organization or gene expression. Among miRNAs contained in these EVs, hsa-miR-92a-3p, hsa-let-7b-5p, hsa-miR-30a-5p, hsa-miR-24-3p, hsa-miR-21-5p and hsa-let-7a-5p were highly implicated in all these biological processes. Conclusion: Data suggest that extracellular vesicles secreted by human endometrial epithelial cells are internalized by human blastocysts, and transport miRNAs to modulate biological processes related to implantation events and early embryo development. Knowledge of the communication system between human endometrium and embryo via miRNA cargo of these vesicles could describe new biomarkers of implantation success and embryo competence.

Project description:Most cancer-related deaths are caused by distant metastases, which are tumour cells that have escaped from a primary tumour and passed into the bloodstream to colonize a new organ. In this context, communication between tumour and stromal cells is essential. Indeed, tumor cells interact with cells in the tumor microenvironment and are able to modify them to their advantage. Both extracellular vesicles (EVs) and exosomes are heterogeneous populations of small vesicles present in the tumor microenvironment and in body fluids that have recently emerged as powerful mediators involved in this communication and their transport in fluids. Tumor cells release large quantities of exosomes containing tumor markers, which can then spread to distant locations. The exosomes are of endosomal origin. They are composed of proteins, lipids, RNA and DNA, and they circulate in the bloodstream. They can be internalized by specific distant cells and thus deliver a functional message. It has recently been shown that tumor exosomes containing pro-metastatic factors form pre-metastatic niches, before the tumor cells actually arrive, while determining the metastatic organotropism of tumors. These properties are now opening up new avenues of research in tumor biomarkers. In recent years, several studies have highlighted different markers contained specifically in exosomes derived from cancer cells. Consequently, exosomes are considered as potential reservoirs of tumor biomarkers that could be clinically useful for the non-invasive diagnosis of cancer, with the advantage of being performed by liquid biopsy. The study of microRNA (miRNA) is of particular interest. Indeed, miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs (between 21 and 25 nucleotides) involved in the regulation of gene expression and which are frequently deregulated in cancer. Several studies underline that the variation of free miRNAs in the blood is correlated with the progression of the disease, particularly in colon cancer. However, the stability of free miRNAs is controversial. Therefore, exosomes represent a very advantageous means of transporting miRNAs in the blood, as they are able to protect miRNAs from degradation by RNAase. The hypothesis of the project is that circulating exosomes derived from tumours contain markers including specific miRNAs that could be used as biomarkers of early prognosis (survival and progression), easily measured in blood samples from patients with colon cancer. But other molecules contained in exosomes could also be of interest.

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Comprehensive analysis of miRNAs in matrix vesicles

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