Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology ran a nice paper about circulating microRNAs in 2011 (PMID: 21647195). At that time, it was speculated that microRNA were secreted by the exosome pathway, but the detailed mechanism had not been mapped out. There is little controversy about whether secretion occurs, but I don't know how much progress had been made on elucidating the pathway in the past 2 years. Given microRNA size, charge, and vulnerability to RNAses, one can infer active transport must be involved.
@Seema- I don't think anyone knows why this secretion occurs. Cell free DNA also exists in the bloodstream with no obvious purpose. Nonetheless a boon to clinicians.
Cells miRNA synthesize into cytosole. For extracellular secretion miRNA is packed in exosomes. Read about exosomes.
Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology ran a nice paper about circulating microRNAs in 2011 (PMID: 21647195). At that time, it was speculated that microRNA were secreted by the exosome pathway, but the detailed mechanism had not been mapped out. There is little controversy about whether secretion occurs, but I don't know how much progress had been made on elucidating the pathway in the past 2 years. Given microRNA size, charge, and vulnerability to RNAses, one can infer active transport must be involved.
@Seema- I don't think anyone knows why this secretion occurs. Cell free DNA also exists in the bloodstream with no obvious purpose. Nonetheless a boon to clinicians.
Another possible source of circulating miRNA´s is their prescence in apoptotic bodies due to naturally occuring apoptosis. In that case we don´t have a certain excretion process we could block.
This possibility highlights the evantual suitability of circulating miRNA´s as bioindicators of pathological situations within a certain suspect.
Hi, here is a review in 2010 about circulating microRNA. I hope it helpful for you.
Hi again, this is another pdf about microRNA that locate in exosome.
Seema,
May be this could be used by parasites as an immunomodulatory mechanism :D
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