microRNAs as potential new biomarkers for Tuberculosis

D'ATTILIO, LUCIANO; BAY, MARÍA LUISA; PALATNIK, J.F.; BOTTASSO, O.A.; SPINELLI, S.V.

Puerto Madryn

Congreso; 46 Annual Meeting of the Argentine Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; 2010

Tuberculosis (TB) may be regarded as a disease in which theimmune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, its etiologicagent, is engaged both in protection and pathology. Currentbiomarkers cannot completely distinguish patients with mild ormoderate forms of pulmonary TB from the ones that present a moresevere disease. Both circulating and cell specific microRNAs(miRNAs) are promising biomarkers for several diseases, but theircorrelation with the progress of Tuberculosis has not been studied.In this work we analyzed six miRNAs that could modulate differentaspects of the immunendocrine response observed in TB patients:miR-18a, miR-223, miR-15b, miR-155, miR-142 and miR-146a. Ina first approach, we standardized the protocols to determine theexpression levels of the miRNAs in both plasma and peripheralblood mononuclear cell from healthy controls. Using the stem loopRT-PCR technique we were able to successfully detect them inblood samples. Then miRNA expression was investigated in a groupof TB patients and compared to healthy controls to evaluate theirpotential prognostic value.In sum, the results presented here demonstrate the feasibility ofquantifying microRNA expression in patient tissues and suggest thatthey might serve as new biomarkers for the disease.