title: Urinary MicroRNA as Biomarker in Renal Transplantation.
abstract: Urine represents a noninvasive source in which proteins and nucleic acids can be assessed. Such analytes may function as biomarkers to monitor kidney graft pathology at every desired frequency, thereby providing a time window to prevent graft damage by therapeutic intervention. Recently, several proteins have been measured in urine as markers of graft injury. However, the specificity is limited, and measuring urinary proteins generally lacks the potential to predict early kidney graft damage. Currently, urinary mRNA and microRNA are being investigated to evaluate the prognostic value of changes in gene expression during the initial stages of graft damage. At such time point, a change in treatment regimen and dosage is expected to have maximum potency to minimize future decline in graft function. Both mRNA and microRNAs have shown promising results in both detection and prediction of graft injury. An advantage of microRNAs compared to mRNA molecules is their stability, a characteristic that is beneficial when working with urine samples. In this review, we provide the current state of urinary biomarkers in renal transplantation, with a focus on urinary microRNA. In addition, we discuss the methods used to study urinary microRNA expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van de Vrie
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Deegens
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunohematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eikmans
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Vlag
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Hilbrands
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine*; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine*; D016482:Urinalysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: basic (laboratory) research/science; biomarker; clinical research/practice; genetics; graft survival; immunobiology; kidney (allograft) function/dysfunction; kidney transplantation/nephrology