The potential of five c-miRNAs as serum biomarkers for Late-Onset Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis: miR-10a-5p, miR-29b-2-5p, miR-125a-5p, miR-342-3p, and miR-708-5p

• Published in: Brain research Vol. 1841; p. 149090
• Main Authors: de Lourdes Signorini-Souza, Isadora, Tureck, Luciane Viater, Batistela, Meire Silva, Coutinho de Almeida, Rodrigo, Monteiro de Almeida, Sergio, Furtado-Alle, Lupe, Lehtonen Rodrigues Souza, Ricardo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15-10-2024
• Subjects: Blood–brain barrier; Circulating miRNAs; Dementia; miRNAs databases; Neurodegeneration; Target mRNAs; Circulating miRNAs; Neurodegeneration; miRNAs databases; Target mRNAs; Dementia; Blood–brain barrier
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.149090

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•Seven c-miRNAs were found by RNA-Seq as potential biomarkers for LOAD.•miR-10a; miR-29b; miR-125a; miR-342, and miR-708: differentially expressed in LOAD.•Analysis of c-miRNAs showed the complex network between them and their target mRNAs.
The nervous system is rich in miRNAs, indicating an important role of these molecules in regulating processes associated with cognition, memory, and others. Therefore, qualitative and quantitative imbalances involving such miRNAs may be involved in dementia contexts, including Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease (LOAD). To test the viability of circulating miRNAs (c-miRNAs) as biomarkers for LOAD, we proceed accordingly to the following reasoning. The first stage was to discover and identify profile of c-miRNAs by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). For this purpose, blood serum samples were used from LOAD patients (n = 5) and cognitively healthy elderly control group (CTRL_CH) (n = 5), all over 70 years old. We identified seven c-miRNAs differentially expressed (p ≤ 0.05) in the serum of LOAD patients compared to CTRL_CH (miR-10a-5p; miR-29b-2-5p; miR-125a-5p; miR-342-3p, miR-708-5p, miR-380-5p and miR-340-3p). Of these, five (p ≤ 0.01) were selected for in silico analysis (miR-10a-5p; miR-29b-2-5p; miR-125a-5p; miR-342-3p, miR-708-5p), for which 44 relevant target genes were found regulated by these c-miRNAs and related to LOAD. Through the analysis of these target genes in databases, it was possible to observe that they have functions related to the development and progress of LOAD, directly or indirectly connecting the different Alzheimer’s pathways. Thus, this work found five promising serum c-miRNAs as options for biomarkers contributing to LOAD diagnosis. Our study shows the complex network between these molecules and LOAD, supporting the relevance of studies using c-miRNAs in dementia contexts.