title: Analyzing the circulating microRNAs in exosomes/extracellular vesicles from serum or plasma by qRT-PCR.
abstract: Small extracellular vesicles are released from both healthy and disease cells to facilitate cellular communication. They have a wide variety of names including exosomes, microvesicles and microparticles. Depending on their size, very small extracellular vesicles originating from the endocytic pathway have been called exosomes and in some cases nanovesicles. Collectively, extracellular vesicles are important mediators of a wide variety of functions including immune cell development and homeostasis. Encapsulated in the extracellular vesicles are proteins and nucleic acids including mRNA and microRNA molecules. MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNA molecules implicated in the post-transcriptional control of gene expression that have emerged as important regulatory molecules and are involved in disease pathogenesis including cancer. In some diseases, not only does the quantity and the subpopulations of extracellular vesicles change in the peripheral blood but also microRNAs. Here, we described the analysis of peripheral blood extracellular vesicles by flow cytometry and the RNA extraction from extracellular vesicles isolated from the plasma or serum to profile microRNA expression.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Leni
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moldovan
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Batte
authors.forename: Yijie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wisler
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piper
mesh_terms: D017304:Annexin A5 / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D017931:DNA Primers; D055354:Exosomes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008863:Microspheres; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D017304:Annexin A5; D015415:Biomarkers; D017931:DNA Primers; D035683:MicroRNAs