Abstract
microRNAs (miRNAs) comprise a class of ~18–25 nucleotide (nt) single-stranded non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) that are the smallest known carriers of gene-encoded, post-transcriptional regulatory information in both plants and animals. There are many fundamental similarities between plant and animal miRNAs—the miRNAs of both kingdoms play essential roles in development, aging and disease, and the shaping of the transcriptome of many cell types. Both plant and animal miRNAs appear to predominantly exert their genetic and transcriptomic influences by regulating gene expression at the level of messenger RNA (mRNA) stability and/or translational inhibition. Certain miRNA species, such as miRNA-155, miRNA-168, and members of the miRNA-854 family may be expressed in both plants and animals, suggesting a common origin and functional selection of specific miRNAs over vast periods of evolution (for example, Arabidopsis thaliana-Homo sapiens divergence ~1.5 billion years). Although there is emerging evidence for cross-kingdom miRNA communication—that plant-enriched miRNAs may enter the diet and play physiological and/or pathophysiological roles in human health and disease—some research reports repudiate this possibility. This research paper highlights some recent, controversial, and remarkable findings in plant- and animal-based miRNA signaling research with emphasis on the intriguing possibility that dietary miRNAs and/or sncRNAs may have potential to contribute to both intra- and inter-kingdom signaling, and in doing so modulate molecular-genetic mechanisms associated with human health and disease.
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Acknowledgements
This research work was presented in part at the Alzheimer Association International Congress 2016 (AAIC 2016) Annual conference July 2016 in Toronto CANADA, at the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics autumn seminar series (Cepия oceнниx ceминapoв) in Moscow RUSSIA October 2016 and at the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) Annual Meeting November 2016, San Diego CA, USA. Sincere thanks are extended to Drs. S. Bhattacharjee and the late Dr. JM Hill for helpful discussions on this controversial subject matter, to Drs PN Alexandrov, JG Cui, F Culicchia, W Poon, K Navel, C Hebel, and C Eicken for short post-mortem interval (PMI) human brain tissues or extracts, unpublished Western data and immunochemistry, HNG tissue culture and NF-kB-DNA-binding assay, initial bioinformatics and data interpretation, and to D Guillot and AI Pogue for expert technical assistance. Thanks are also extended to the many neuropathologists, physicians, and researchers of the US, Canada and Europe who have provided high quality, short post-mortem interval (PMI) human CNS, or extracted tissue fractions for scientific study. Research on the microRNAs, pro-inflammatory, and pathogenic signaling in the Lukiw laboratory involving the innate-immune response, neuroinflammation, and amyloidogenesis in AD and in other neurological diseases was supported through an unrestricted grant to the LSU Eye Center from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB); the Louisiana Biotechnology Research Network (LBRN) and NIH Grants NEI EY006311, NIA AG18031 and NIA AG038834.
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YZ, LC, and WJL discussed the genomic data and scientific implications of these ideas; WJL researched and wrote this paper; the authors are sincerely grateful to colleagues and collaborators for helpful discussions and for sharing unpublished data.
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Zhao, Y., Cong, L. & Lukiw, W.J. Plant and Animal microRNAs (miRNAs) and Their Potential for Inter-kingdom Communication. Cell Mol Neurobiol 38, 133–140 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-017-0547-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-017-0547-4