UMMS Affiliation
Program in Molecular Medicine; Department of Neurology
Publication Date
2020-09-29
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins | Cell Biology | Cellular and Molecular Physiology | Fluids and Secretions | Hemic and Immune Systems | Molecular Biology | Nervous System Diseases | Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function cell-intrinsically to regulate gene expression by base-pairing to complementary mRNA targets while in association with Argonaute, the effector protein of the miRNA-mediated silencing complex (miRISC). A relatively dilute population of miRNAs can be found extracellularly in body fluids such as human blood plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The remarkable stability of circulating miRNAs in such harsh extracellular environments can be attributed to their association with protective macromolecular complexes, including extracellular vesicles (EVs), proteins such as Argonaut 2 (AGO2), or high-density lipoproteins. The precise origins and the potential biological significance of various forms of miRNA-containing extracellular complexes are poorly understood. It is also not known whether extracellular miRNAs in their native state may retain the capacity for miRISC-mediated target RNA binding. To explore the potential functionality of circulating extracellular miRNAs, we comprehensively investigated the association between circulating miRNAs and the miRISC Argonaute AGO2. Using AGO2 immunoprecipitation (IP) followed by small-RNA sequencing, we find that miRNAs in circulation are primarily associated with antibody-accessible miRISC/AGO2 complexes. Moreover, we show that circulating miRNAs can base-pair with a target mimic in a seed-based manner, and that the target-bound AGO2 can be recovered from blood plasma in an approximately 1:1 ratio with the respective miRNA. Our findings suggest that miRNAs in circulation are largely contained in functional miRISC/AGO2 complexes under normal physiological conditions. However, we find that, in human CSF, the assortment of certain extracellular miRNAs into free miRISC/AGO2 complexes can be affected by pathological conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Keywords
AGO2, Argonaut, cerebrospinal fluid, extracellular microRNA, human plasma
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2020 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
DOI of Published Version
10.1073/pnas.2008323117
Source
Geekiyanage H, Rayatpisheh S, Wohlschlegel JA, Brown R Jr, Ambros V. Extracellular microRNAs in human circulation are associated with miRISC complexes that are accessible to anti-AGO2 antibody and can bind target mimic oligonucleotides. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Sep 29;117(39):24213-24223. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2008323117. Epub 2020 Sep 14. PMID: 32929008; PMCID: PMC7533700. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Related Resources
PubMed ID
32929008
Repository Citation
Geekiyanage H, Rayatpisheh S, Wohlschlegel JA, Brown RH, Ambros VR. (2020). Extracellular microRNAs in human circulation are associated with miRISC complexes that are accessible to anti-AGO2 antibody and can bind target mimic oligonucleotides. Open Access Articles. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008323117. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/4375
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins Commons, Cell Biology Commons, Cellular and Molecular Physiology Commons, Fluids and Secretions Commons, Hemic and Immune Systems Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, Nervous System Diseases Commons, Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides Commons