title: Assessing the survival of exogenous plant microRNA in mice.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small RNAs, are important molecules that influence several developmental processes and regulate RNA interference (RNAi), and are abundant in animals, plants, and plant tissues that are traditionally consumed in the diet. The survival of plant small RNAs from the diet in animals, however, remains unclear, and the persistence of miRNAs from dietary plants in the animal gastrointestinal (GI) tract is still under debate. In this study, ICR mice were fed plant total RNAs in quantities of 10-50 μg, extracted from Brassica oleracea. Serum, feces, and various tissues were collected from the mice after RNA consumption and analyzed for several miRNAs. Exogenous plant miRNAs were present in the sera, feces, and tissues of animals and these exogenous plant miRNAs were primarily acquired orally. MiR-172, the most highly enriched exogenous plant miRNA in B. oleracea, was found in the stomach, intestine, serum, and feces of mice that were fed plant RNA extracts including miR-172. The amount of miR-172 that survived passage through the GI tract varied among individuals, with a maximum of 4.5% recovered at the stomach of one individual, and had a range of 0.05-4.5% in different organs. Furthermore, miR-172 was detected in the blood, spleen, liver, and kidney of mice.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University Nanjing, 210096, China ; School of Medical Technology and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology Luo Yang 471003, Henan, China.
authors.forename: GaoFeng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: YanLiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: YouHua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Technology and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology Luo Yang 471003, Henan, China.
authors.forename: AiHua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: JunHua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: ZhongDang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiao
keywords: Blood stream; cross-kingdom; gastrointestinal; miR-172; organs