Neurodegenerative disease: miR-34b-a novel plasma marker for Huntington disease?

摘要

New research suggests that plasma levels of a microRNA (miRNA) molecule, miR-34b, could be a useful biomarker of disease progression in patients with Huntington disease (HD)-even before the onset of clinical symptoms. "To our knowledge, this is the first identification of an miRNA associated with the preclinical manifestation of HD that is detectable outside of the nervous system," asserts Maria Bjorkqvist, the study's corresponding author.The researchers initially used a neuronal-cell-based assay to identify two miRNAs that showed upregulated expression in the presence of mutant huntingtin protein. The mutant protein causes manifestations of HD through its ability to modulate gene transcription and translation.After confirming the stability of the two miRNAs to repeated freeze-thaw cycles, the team measured levels of the miRNAs in stored frozen plasma samples from 27 patients with HD (either with or without clinical symptoms) and 12 age-matched controls.