Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in regulation of cellular processes in response to changes in environment. In this study, we examined alterations in miRNA profiles in peripheral blood from 25 male medical students two months and two days before the National Examination for Medical Practitioners. Blood obtained one month after the examination were used as baseline controls. Levels of seven miRNAs (miR-16, -20b, -26b, -29a, -126, -144 and -144*) were significantly elevated during the pre-examination period in association with significant down-regulation of their target mRNAs (WNT4, CCM2, MAK, and FGFR1 mRNAs) two days before the examination. State anxiety assessed two months before the examination was positively and negatively correlated with miR-16 and its target WNT4 mRNA levels, respectively. Fold changes in miR-16 levels from two days before to one month after the examination were inversely correlated with those in WNT4 mRNA levels over the same time points. We also confirmed the interaction between miR-16 and WNT4 3′UTR in HEK293T cells overexpressing FLAG-tagged WNT4 3′UTR and miR-16. Thus, a distinct group of miRNAs in periheral blood may participate in the integrated response to chronic academic stress in healthy young men.
Highlights
The non-protein-coding genome is functionally important for normal development, physiology and for disease [1]
Using a miRNA microarray, we investigated psychological stress-responsive miRNAs in whole blood from medical students taking a nationally-administered examination for academic promotion, and reported that miR-144/144* and miR-16 may participate in the regulation of systemic responses when exposed to brief naturalistic stressors in healthy young adults [10]
It is possible that up-regulated miRNAs may serve as down-regulators of target mRNAs, the high expression of which may lead to detrimental effects
Summary
The non-protein-coding genome is functionally important for normal development, physiology and for disease [1]. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs approximately 22 nucleotides in length. They bind to partially complementary sites mostly within the 39 untranslated region (UTR) of target mRNAs and suppress translation of target mRNAs or facilitate their degradation [2]. 1,000 miRNAs are expressed in human cells, and sufficiently expressed miRNAs typically target hundreds of different mRNAs. It is estimated that up to 30% of mammalian mRNA transcripts are subject to regulation by miRNAs [3]. MiRNAs are one of the key regulators of eukaryotic gene expression and involved in regulation of fundamental cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, development, and cell death [4]
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