Human Milk Cells Contain Numerous miRNAs that May Change with Milk Removal and Regulate Multiple Physiological Processes.
Human milk (HM) is a complex biofluid conferring nutritional, protective and developmental components for optimal infant growth. Amongst these are maternal cells, which change in response to feeding and were recently shown to be a rich source of miRNAs. We used next generation sequencing to characterize the cellular miRNA profile of HM collected before and after feeding. HM cells conserved higher miRNA content than the lipid and skim HM fractions or other body fluids, in accordance with previous studies. In total, 1467 known mature and 1996 novel miRNAs were identified, with 89 high-confidence novel miRNAs. HM cell content was higher post-feeding (p < 0.05), and was positively associated with total miRNA content (p = 0.014) and species number (p < 0.001). This coincided with upregulation of 29 known and 2 novel miRNAs, and downregulation of 4 known and 1 novel miRNAs post-feeding, but no statistically significant change in expression was found for the remaining miRNAs. These findings suggest that feeding may influence the miRNA content of HM cells. The most highly and differentially expressed miRNAs were key regulators of milk components, with potential diagnostic value in lactation performance. They are also involved in the control of body fluid balance, thirst, appetite, immune response, and development, implicating their functional significance for the infant.
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. mohammed.alsaweed@research.uwa.edu.au.|College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Almajmaah, Riyadh 11952, Saudi Arabia. mohammed.alsaweed@research.uwa.edu.au.
Mohammed
M
Alsaweed
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. ching-tat.lai@uwa.edu.au.
Ching Tat
CT
Lai
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. peter.hartmann@uwa.edu.au.
Peter E
PE
Hartmann
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. donna.geddes@uwa.edu.au.
Donna T
DT
Geddes
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. foteini.kakulas@uwa.edu.au.
Foteini
F
Kakulas
D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007774:Lactation; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008893:Milk Ejection; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000378:metabolism*
D035683:MicroRNAs
breastfeeding; breastmilk; human milk; miRNA profiling; milk cells; milk removal; next generation sequencing