Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding molecules targeting messenger RNAs and inhibiting protein translation. Regulated by dynamic micro-environmental cues, miRNAs in turn modulate key biological processes, including cell growth and development, energy utilization and homeostasis. In particular, miRNAs control the differentiation, survival and activation of CD4+ T conventional (Tconv) cells, key players of the adaptive immunity and miRNA-mediated gene expression regulation contributes to the physiological response to infections and the pathological loss of immune homeostasis in autoimmunity. Upon T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation, the described global miRNA quantitative decrease occurring in T cells is believed to promote the acquisition of effector functions by relaxing the post-transcriptional repression of genes associated to proliferation and cell activity. While miRNAs were initially thought to get down-regulated uniquely by intracellular degradation, miRNA secretion via extracellular vesicles (EVs) represents an additional mechanism of rapid down-regulation. By focusing on molecular interactions by means of graph theory, we have found that miRNAs released by TCR stimulated Tconv cells are significantly enriched for targeting transcripts up-regulated upon stimulation, including those encoding for crucial proteins associated to Tconv cell activation and function. Based on this computational approach, we present our perspective based on the following hypothesis: a stimulated Tconv cell will release miRNAs targeting genes associated to the effector function in the extracellular space in association with EVs, which will thus possess a suppressive potential toward other Tconv cells in the paracrine environment. We also propose possible future directions of investigation aimed at taking advantage of these phenomena to control Tconv cell effector function in health and autoimmunity.
Project description:We investigated the therapeutic effect of the extracellular vesicles secreted by glial progenitor cells (GPC-EV) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cell in a traumatic brain injury model. The injury was modeled using the dosed concussion to the open brain method. The male Wistar rats were performed traumatic brain injury (TBI), and after 24 hours animals were randomly divided into two groups: group 1 — rats with intranasal administration of PBS (control), and group 2 — rats with similar administration of extracellular visicles (EV) derived from glial progenitor cells. miRNA PCR analysis of brain tissues ( cortex, striatum, hippocampus) were performed on postoperative day 7 to investigate miRNA associated with apoptosis, and inflammation.
Project description:The silkworm (Bombyx mori) has long been considered a source of food and medicine due to its high nutritional, medicinal, and economic value in East Asia. However, in some sensitive individuals, silkworm consumption can cause allergenic reactions such as vomiting, asthma, and anaphylaxis. Therefore, the development of a reliable method for silkworm detection is required to avoid such allergenic incidents. In this study, two different methods (liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry [LC-MS/MS] and real-time polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) were developed to determine an efficient technique for silkworm detection in foods. The developed methods demonstrated high sensitivity in detecting the silkworm in processed foods. Silkworm-spiked model cookies were used to confirm the sensitivity of both LC-MS/MS (0.0005%) and real-time PCR (0.001%). These methods were found to be useful for detecting the silkworm in foods and avoiding allergenic reactions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to compare LC-MS/MS and real-time PCR for silkworm detection in complex processed foods.