Increased serum piwi-interacting RNAs as a novel potential diagnostic tool for brucellosis

Dysregulated expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in various tissues has been associated with a variety of diseases, including cancers. Here we demonstrate that miRNAs are present in the serum and plasma of humans and other animals such as mice, rats, bovine fetuses, calves, and horses. The levels of miRNAs in serum are stable, reproducible, and consistent among individuals of the same species. Employing Solexa, we sequenced all serum miRNAs of healthy Chinese subjects and found over 100 and 91 serum miRNAs in male and female subjects, respectively. We also identified specific expression patterns of serum miRNAs for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and diabetes, providing evidence that serum miRNAs contain fingerprints for various diseases. Two non-small cell lung cancer-specific serum miRNAs obtained by Solexa were further validated in an independent trial of 75 healthy donors and 152 cancer patients, using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. Through these analyses, we conclude that serum miRNAs can serve as potential biomarkers for the detection of various cancers and other diseases.

Human brucellosis still presents scientists and clinicians with several challenges, such as the understanding of pathogenic mechanisms of Brucella spp, the identification of markers for disease severity, progression, and treatment response, and the development of improved treatment regimens. Molecular studies have shed new light on the pathogenesis of Brucella spp, and new technologies have permitted the development of diagnostic tools that will be useful in developing countries, where brucellosis is still a very common but often neglected disease. However, further studies are needed to establish optimum treatment regimens and local and international control programmes. This Review summarises current knowledge of the pathogenic mechanisms, new diagnostic advances, therapeutic options, and the situation of developing countries in regard to human brucellosis.

Proper normalization is a critical but often an underappreciated aspect of quantitative gene expression analysis. This study describes the identification and characterization of appropriate reference RNA targets for the normalization of microRNA (miRNA) quantitative RT-PCR data. miRNA microarray data from dozens of normal and disease human tissues revealed ubiquitous and stably expressed normalization candidates for evaluation by qRT-PCR. miR-191 and miR-103, among others, were found to be highly consistent in their expression across 13 normal tissues and five pair of distinct tumor/normal adjacent tissues. These miRNAs were statistically superior to the most commonly used reference RNAs used in miRNA qRT-PCR experiments, such as 5S rRNA, U6 snRNA, or total RNA. The most stable normalizers were also highly conserved across flash-frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lung cancer tumor/NAT sample sets, resulting in the confirmation of one well-documented oncomir (let-7a), as well as the identification of novel oncomirs. These findings constitute the first report describing the rigorous normalization of miRNA qRT-PCR data and have important implications for proper experimental design and accurate data interpretation.