title: Increased circulating microRNAs miR-342-3p and miR-21-5p in natural sheep prion disease.
abstract: Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), or prion disease, of sheep and goats. As no simple diagnostic tests are yet available to detect TSEs in vivo, easily accessible biomarkers could facilitate the eradication of scrapie agents from the food chain. To this end, we analysed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR a selected set of candidate microRNAs (miRNAs) from circulating blood plasma of naturally infected, classical scrapie sheep that demonstrated clear scrapie symptoms and pathology. Significant scrapie-associated increase was repeatedly found for miR-342-3p and miR-21-5p. This is the first demonstration, to our knowledge, of circulating miRNA alterations in any animal suffering from TSE. Genome-wide expression studies are warranted to investigate the true depth of miRNA alterations in naturally occurring TSEs, especially in presymptomatic animals, as the presented study demonstrates the potential feasibility of miRNAs as circulating TSE biomarkers.
authors.affiliation: LAGENBIO, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sanz Rubio
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.|LAGENBIO, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Óscar
authors.initials: Ó
authors.lastname: López-Pérez
authors.affiliation: LAGENBIO, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Álvaro
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: de Andrés Pablo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bolea
authors.affiliation: LAGENBIO, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Osta
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Badiola
authors.affiliation: LAGENBIO, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zaragoza
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.|LAGENBIO, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Martín-Burriel
authors.affiliation: LAGENBIO, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA and IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Janne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Toivonen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000473:pathology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012608:Scrapie / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D035683:MicroRNAs