PURPOSE Inflammatory genes and microRNAs have roles in colon carcinogenesis; therefore, they may provide useful biomarkers for colon cancer. This study examines the potential clinical utility of an inflammatory gene expression signature as a prognostic biomarker for colon cancer in addition to previously examined miR-21 expression. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR. w...

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles that mediate transport of nucleic acids, proteins, and other molecules. Prior work has implicated exosomes in the transmission radiation nontargeted effects. Here we investigate ability energetic heavy ions, representative species found galactic cosmic rays, to stimulate exosome release from human bronchial epithelial cells vitro. Immortalized (HBEC3-KT F25F)...

BACKGROUND In rheumatoid arthritis, prediction of response to TNF-alpha inhibitor (TNFi) treatment would be of clinical value. This study aims to discover miRNAs that predict response and aims to replicate results of two previous studies addressing this topic. METHODS From the observational BiOCURA cohort, 40 adalimumab- (ADA) and 40 etanercept- (ETN) treated patients were selected to enter t...

BACKGROUND MicroRNAs (miRNAs) consist of a group of small noncoding RNAs that partially regulate gene expression. We investigated the expression patterns of commonly deregulated miRNAs in Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) in peripheral blood samples of inflammatory bowel disease patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS This study consisted of 128 CD and 88 UC patients, as well as 162 hea...

Despite advances in colon cancer research and novel therapies, high risk of recurrence remains a major challenge. This study reports miRNA expression profiling as a biomarker for the prognosis of TNM stage II and III colon cancer. Fresh frozen biopsies from the study cohort (N=111) were analyzed for miRNA by RT-qPCR and LASSO regression analysis was used to build a classifier of miRNAs. The pro...

Emerging evidence demonstrates functional contributions of microRNAs (miRNAs) to μ-opioid receptor (MOR) signaling, but the information so far has been mostly limited to their intracellular regulatory mechanisms. The present study aimed to investigate changes in plasma miRNA profiles elicited by opioid treatment in blood samples collected from clinical studies. Healthy male subjects were orally...