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Identification of novel rhesus macaque microRNAs from naïve whole blood

Molecular Biology Reports volume 46, pages 5511–5516 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as novel molecular tools for diagnosing and treating diseases. Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) are the most widely used nonhuman primate species for biomedical studies, yet only 912 mature miRNAs have been identified in this species compared to 2654 in humans and 1978 in mice. The aim of this project was to help bridge that gap in knowledge by evaluating circulating miRNA in naïve rhesus monkeys and comparing results with currently available databases in different species in order to identify novel, mature miRNAs. Total RNA was isolated from whole blood of ten healthy, adult rhesus macaques. After performing next generation sequencing (NGS), 475 novel, mature miRNAs were identified in rhesus macaques for the first time; of those, 423 were identified for the first time in any species. The most abundantly expressed novel rhesus macaque miRNA, hsa-miR-744-5p, has previously been described in humans. Database assessment of hsa-miR-744-5p potential gene targets showed that while the gene targets showed > 90% sequence similarity between rhesus and humans, many did not share the same consensus sequences. The identification of 475 novel miRNAs in the blood of rhesus macaque reflects the complexity and variety of miRNAs across species. Further NGS studies are needed to reveal novel miRNA that will inform on species-, tissue-, and condition-specific miRNAs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Raghu Vemuganti, Dane Shank, Carissa Boettcher, Dr. Kevin Brunner, and the dedicated animal care and veterinary staff at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center for their technical support.

Funding

Research was supported by NIH P51OD011106, NIH Kirschstein-NRSA F31HL136047 (J.M.M.), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education, Cellular and Molecular Pathology Graduate Program, and Department of Medical Physics.

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Author notes

  1. Mary S. Lopez

    Present address: Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research, Klinikum der Universitaet Muenchen, Feodor-Lynen-Straße 17, 81377, Munich, Germany

Affiliations

  1. Cellular and Molecular Pathology Graduate Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1685 Highland Ave., Madison, WI, 53705, USA

    Mary S. Lopez, Jeanette M. Metzger & Marina E. Emborg

  2. Preclinical Parkinson’s Research Program, Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1220 Capitol Court, Madison, WI, 53715, USA

    Jeanette M. Metzger & Marina E. Emborg

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, PO 8660, 600 Highland Ave., Madison, WI, 53792, USA

    Mary S. Lopez

  4. Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1111 Highland Ave., Madison, WI, 53705, USA

    Marina E. Emborg

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  1. Mary S. Lopez
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  2. Jeanette M. Metzger
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  3. Marina E. Emborg
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Correspondence to Marina E. Emborg.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Adult male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) from the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an AALAC accredited facility, were used in this experiment. All procedures were performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the National Research Council Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory animals (2011) and were approved by the University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) (protocol G00705). All efforts were made to ameliorate distress, and no animals were euthanized to obtain this data.

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Lopez, M.S., Metzger, J.M. & Emborg, M.E. Identification of novel rhesus macaque microRNAs from naïve whole blood. Mol Biol Rep 46, 5511–5516 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-04891-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-04891-8

Keywords

  • Rhesus
  • Monkeys
  • Next generation sequencing
  • MicroRNA
  • Non-coding RNA