Abstract
Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), also known as secretory miRNAs, are packaged in small membrane vesicles called exosomes. These exosomal miRNAs are secreted from various cell types and incorporated inside the recipient cells. The functions of exosomal miRNAs are poorly understood, but some reports have shown their essential roles in cancer development. Therefore, methods to study the function of exosomal miRNAs not only in vitro but also in vivo might be essential. We have analyzed the function of exosomal miRNAs by miRNA-enriched exosomes both in vitro and in vivo. In this chapter, the methods to concentrate the targeted miRNAs are provided. This simple and useful method enables the study of the precise mechanisms of exosomal miRNAs under physiological and pathological conditions.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Dr. Fumitaka Takeshita, Dr. Haruhisa Iguchi, Ms. Ayako Inoue, and Dr. Nami Kosaka for their valuable advice and assistance. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for the Third-Term Comprehensive 10-Year Strategy for Cancer Control, a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas Cancer from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Program for Promotion of Fundamental Studies in Health Sciences of the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation (NiBio), and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through the “Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology (FIRST Program)” initiated by the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP), a grant-in-aid for Project for Development of Innovative Research on Cancer Therapeutics (P-Direct), and Project for Development of Innovative Research on Cancer Therapeutics, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (“functional machinery for non-coding RNAs”) from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology.
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Kosaka, N., Yoshioka, Y., Hagiwara, K., Tominaga, N., Ochiya, T. (2013). Functional Analysis of Exosomal MicroRNA in Cell–Cell Communication Research. In: Kosaka, N. (eds) Circulating MicroRNAs. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1024. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-453-1_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-453-1_1
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Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-453-1
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