Open AccessIdentification of miR‐93 as a suitable miR for normalizing miRNA in plasma of tuberculosis patients
Author(s) -
Barry Simone E.,
Chan Brian,
Ellis Magda,
Yang YuRong,
Plit Marshall L.,
Guan Guangyu,
Wang Xiaolin,
Britton Warwick J.,
Saunders Bernadette M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/jcmm.12535
Subject(s) - microrna , tuberculosis , mycobacterium tuberculosis , disease , immunology , medicine , biology , bioinformatics , oncology , pathology , gene , genetics
Tuberculosis ( TB ) remains a major public health issue. New tests to aid diagnoses and monitor the response to therapy are urgently required. There is growing interest in the use of micro RNA (mi RNA ) profiles as diagnostic, prognostic or predictive markers in a range of clinical and infectious diseases, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, however, challenges exist to accurately normalise mi RNA levels in cohorts. This study examined the appropriateness of 12 miRs and RNU 6B to normalise circulating plasma mi RNA levels in individuals with active TB from 2 different geographical and ethnic regions. Twelve miRs (let‐7, miR‐16, miR‐22, miR‐26, miR‐93, miR‐103, miR‐191, miR‐192, miR‐221, miR‐423, miR‐425 and miR‐451) and RNU 6B were selected based on their reported production by lung cells, expression in blood and previous use as a reference mi RNA . Expression levels were analysed in the plasma of newly diagnosed TB patients from Australia and China compared with individuals with latent TB infection and healthy volunteers. Analysis with both geNorm and NormFinder software identified miR‐93 as the most suitable reference miR in both cohorts, either when analysed separately or collectively. Interestingly, there were large variations in the expression levels of some miRs, in particular miR‐192 and let‐7, between the two cohorts, independent of disease status. These data identify miR‐93 is a suitable reference miR for normalizing mi RNA levels in TB patients, and highlight how environmental, and possibly ethnic, factors influence mi RNA expression levels, demonstrating the necessity of assessing the suitability of reference miRs within the study population.