Project description:Very little is known about miRNAs found in breastmilk cells, which also reflect the cells of the lactating mammary epithelium. Our hypothesis is that breastmilk cells are richer in miRNA compared to other milk fractions, such as skim milk. Further, the effects of milk removal by the infant on milk cell miRNA content and/or composition have not been investigated. Breastmilk cells conserved higher miRNA content than previously published lipid and skim fractions of breastmilk as well as other known sources of miRNA in humans. Specifically, 1,467 known mature miRNAs were identified and a further 1996 novel miRNAs, of which 89 were highly expressed. As previously shown, post-feed milk contained more cells than pre-feed milk, and the same was observed for miRNA content. However, no statistically significant difference was found in the expression of the total known and novel miRNAs between pre- and post-feed milk (p=0.76), although 27 known miRNAs and 1 novel miRNA were higher expressed in post-feed milk. As expected, samples richer in viable cells contained more known miRNAs (p = 0.01). Functional analysis of the top 10 most highly expressed known miRNAs showed that they may be potentially involved in crucial roles for the infant, including body fluid balance, thirst, appetite, immune responses, and development. In conclusion, breastmilk is highly rich in miRNA which may play important functions in the breastfed infant and the lactating breast. Milk removal by the infant can influence the total miRNA content of breastmilk, similar to its cell and fat content, but the miRNA composition remains constant
Project description:Breast milk is a complex liquid that enriched in immunological components and affect the development of the infant immune system. Exosomes, the membranous vesicles of endocytic origin, are ubiquitously in various body fluids which can mediate intercellular communication. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a well-defined group of non-coding small RNAs, in human breast milk are packaged inside exosomes. Here, we present the identification of miRNAs in human breast milk exosomes using deep sequencing technology. We found that the immune-related miRNAs are enriched in breast milk exosomes, and are resistant to the general harsh conditions. Four small RNA libraries in human breast milk exosomes from four healthy women (30 +/- 0.9 years old, primiparity) when the infant were aged at 60 days were sequenced.
Project description:Breast milk is a complex liquid that enriched in immunological components and affect the development of the infant immune system. Exosomes, the membranous vesicles of endocytic origin, are ubiquitously in various body fluids which can mediate intercellular communication. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a well-defined group of non-coding small RNAs, in human breast milk are packaged inside exosomes. Here, we present the identification of miRNAs in human breast milk exosomes using deep sequencing technology. We found that the immune-related miRNAs are enriched in breast milk exosomes, and are resistant to the general harsh conditions.
Project description:The breast milk plays a crucial role in shaping the initial intestinal microbiota and mucosal immunity of the infant. Interestingly, breastfeeding has proven to be protective against the early onset of immune-mediated diseases including type 1 diabetes (T1D). Studies have shown that exosomes from human breast milk (HM) are enriched in immune-modulating miRNAs suggesting that exosomal miRNAs transferred to the infant could play a critical role in the development of the infant’s immune system. In this study, we extracted exosome exosomal microRNAs (exomiRs) from breast milk of type 1 diabetic and healthy lactating mothers, in order to identify any differences in the exomiR content between the two groups
Project description:Breastfeeding has been associated with long lasting health benefits. Nutrients and bioactive components of human breast milk promote cell growth, immune development, and shield the infant gut from insults and microbial threats. The molecular and cellular events involved in these processes are ill defined. We have established human pediatric enteroids and interrogated maternal milk’s impact on epithelial cell maturation and function in comparison with commercial infant formula. Colostrum applied apically to pediatric enteroid monolayers reduced ion permeability, stimulated epithelial cell differentiation, and enhanced tight junction function by upregulating occludin amount. Breast milk heightened the production of antimicrobial peptide -defensin 5 by goblet and Paneth cells, and modulated cytokine production, which abolished apical release of pro-inflammatory GM-CSF. These attributes were not found in commercial infant formula. Epithelial cells exposed to breast milk elevated apical and intracellular pIgR amount and enabled maternal IgA translocation. Proteomic data revealed a breast milk-induced molecular pattern associated with tissue remodeling and homeostasis. Using a novel ex vivo pediatric enteroid model, we have identified cellular and molecular pathways involved in human milk-mediated improvement of human intestinal physiology and immunity.
Project description:Breast milk is the primary source of nutrition for newborns, and rich in immunological components. microRNAs (miRNAs), a well-defined group of non-coding small RNAs, are present in various body fluids (such as breast milk), which are selectively packaged inside the exosomes, a type of membrane vesicles, secreted by most cell types. These exosomal miRNAs could be actively delivered into recipient cells, and regulate target gene expression and recipient cell function. We present the lactation-related miRNA expression profiles in porcine milk exosomes across entire lactation period in pig industry (newborn to 28 days after birth) using deep sequencing technology. We found that the immune-related miRNAs are presented and enriched in breast milk exosomes, and generally resistant to relatively harsh conditions. Notably, these exosomal miRNAs exhibited the higher abundances in the colostrum (newborn to 3 days after birth) than that in the mature milk (7 to 28 days after birth), as well as in the serum of colostrum-feeding piglets compared with the only mature milk-feeding piglets. These immune-related miRNAs-loaded exosomes in breast milk may be transferred into the infant body via the digestive tract. These observations are prelude to the in-depth investigations of the essential roles of the breast milk in the development of the infant’s immune system.
Project description:Human milk is the truest form of personalized nutrition, supporting dynamic needs of the infant with important nutritional and bioactive constituents that change throughout lactation. Additionally, human milk is individual specific and is unique for each mother-infant dyad. Proteins and endogenous peptides are 2 key classes of major human milk components making up the proteome, each with unique and synergistic functionality, working to provide protection for the healthy development of infants. Our objective was to comprehensively characterize and quantify the human milk proteome for varying early life challenges. We assessed in-depth individual variations of the human milk proteome across lactation, by mass spectrometry. Finding that the human milk proteome showed continuous and gradual changes over lactation, and that inflammatory events correlated with a strong and rapid change in the composition of human milk proteins and peptides. Personalized human milk profiling resulted in the systematic annotation of the milk proteome, and elucidated how early onset inflammatory events can lead to infant immune training from human milk.
Project description:The majority of babies in the US are formula-fed instead of breast fed. There are major differences in the composition of formulas and breast milk and yet little is known about metabolic differences in babies as the result of feeding these very different diets and how that might affect development or disease risk in later life. One concern is that soy-based formulas might have adverse health effects in babies as a result of the presence of low levels of estrogenic phytochemicals genistein and daidzein which are normally present in soy beans. In the current study, we used a piglet model to look at this question. Piglets were either fed breast milk from the sow or were fed two different infant formulas (cow's milk-based or soy-based) from age 2 days to 21 days when pigs are normally weaned onto solid food. Blood glucose and lipids were measured. Formula-fed pigs were found to have lower cholesterol than breast fed piglets and in addition had larger stores of iron in their liver.Microarray analysis was carried out to see if changes in liver gene expression could explain these effects of formula feeding. It was found that overall gene expression profiles were influenced by formula feeding compared to breast fed neonates. Gender-independent and unique effects of formula influenced cholesterol and iron metabolism. Further, soy formula feeding in comparison to milk-based formula failed to reveal any estrogenic actions on hepatic gene expression in either male or female pigs. Piglets (female, male) were either fed breast milk from the sow or were fed two different infant formulas (cow's milk-based or soy-based) from age 2 days to 21 days when pigs are normally weaned onto solid food.
Project description:Breast milk is the primary source of nutrition for newborns, and rich in immunological components. microRNAs (miRNAs), a well-defined group of non-coding small RNAs, are present in various body fluids (such as breast milk), which are selectively packaged inside the exosomes, a type of membrane vesicles, secreted by most cell types. These exosomal miRNAs could be actively delivered into recipient cells, and regulate target gene expression and recipient cell function. We present the lactation-related miRNA expression profiles in porcine milk exosomes across entire lactation period in pig industry (newborn to 28 days after birth) using deep sequencing technology. We found that the immune-related miRNAs are presented and enriched in breast milk exosomes, and generally resistant to relatively harsh conditions. Notably, these exosomal miRNAs exhibited the higher abundances in the colostrum (newborn to 3 days after birth) than that in the mature milk (7 to 28 days after birth), as well as in the serum of colostrum-feeding piglets compared with the only mature milk-feeding piglets. These immune-related miRNAs-loaded exosomes in breast milk may be transferred into the infant body via the digestive tract. These observations are prelude to the in-depth investigations of the essential roles of the breast milk in the development of the infant’s immune system. Eight small RNA libraries in porcine breast milk exosomes of six lactigenous stages (0, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after birth) from three female pigs were sequenced.
Project description:Human milk (breastmilk) is much more than nutrition for the infant, containing an array of regulatory agents with immunoprotective and developmental functions. Amongst those, microRNAs (miRNAs) have recently been identified, with their properties, roles, origin and distribution in breastmilk as well as in the mammary gland being still undetermined. In this study, we examined the miRNA profile of different fractions of human milk (cells and lipids) using the OpenArray system (Applied Biosystems, 770 miRNA species measured per sample) and compared it with maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma. Although PBMCs were the richest group in miRNA species, plasma showed very low expression pattern. Thus, the human milk fractions (cells, lipid) and skim milk (not being investigated in this study) were found to conserve higher levels of miRNAs than blood in general. Specifically, human milk cell miRNA quantity was found relatively close to PBMCs, and higher than milk lipids. Correlation and clustering analyses indicated that miRNA expression and types of milk cells were highly similar to those in lipids. Milk miRNAs showed a slight correlation to PBMCs, so PBMCs potentially are not contributing to milk miRNAs. Plasma was different to all other three groups in miRNA content and expression pattern. Further, two infant formulae (a plant-based and a cow milk-based) were compared to human milk and found to contain significantly fewer miRNA species than human milk cells and lipids (p>0.001). Taken together with previous studies on miRNAs, our findings demonstrate that human milk is one of the richest sources of miRNAs among human body fluids. As a non-invasive and plentiful source of miRNAs, human milk could be used as a disease biomarker for the mammary gland, with potential in assessing lactation performance. Finally, gene target and pathways analyses identified several target mRNAs regulated by miRNAs found to be abundant in breastmilk. Given the recently identified stability and function of food-derived miRNAs in regulating mammalian genes, we propose that breastmilk is a rich source of miRNA ingested by the infant during the first months of life, and which potentially contribute to early infant development. 10 exclusively breastfeeding dyads were recruited. 10 whole milk and 10 whole blood samples were collected and fractionated to obtain 10 milk cells, 10 milk lipid, 10 mononeucleoted blood cells (PBMCs), and 10 plasma. In addition to the above 40 samples, 2 infant formula were profiled. 4 different extraction kits were used, miRNeasy mini Kit for human milk cell and PBMC samples. miRCURY RNA Isolation-Biofluids Kit for human milk lipid samples and both infant formulae. mirVana PARIS Kit for plasma samples. NanoDrop 2000 and Bioanalyzer 2100 were used to determine concentration and purity of the extracted miRNA from all samples (n=42). miRNA OpenArray panel system (Life Technologies, CA, USA) was used to profile 754 human mature miRNAs in samples. RNU48, RNU44 and U6 rRNA were used as housekeeping controls for normalisation. ath-miR159a was used as a negative control for human samples. GeneGO and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis were used to determine biological pathways. Please note that normalization of miRNAs was done in R but without generating deltaCT values, thus [1] only the list of normalized miRNA with Ct vlaue between 8 and 29 and that detected in at least 4 samples out of 10 analysed in each group is provided ('normalized_miRNAs_list.txt') [2] the sample data tables contain raw data.