Jing Zhang
Royal Military College of Canada, Canada
Title: Mammalian hair follicles: Insights into microRNAs as a traumatic brain injury (TBI) biomarker
Biography
Biography: Jing Zhang
Abstract
With the wide adoption of explosive-dependent weaponry, blast-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become a significant medical issue for military personnel. Recently, the implementation of microRNAs (miRNA) as a clinical biomarker has been proposed for diseases, including several types of cancer. The interaction between miRNAs and their corresponding mRNA targets usually leads to translational silencing or mRNA degradation. This work investigates the involvement of miRNAs in primary shockwave-induced TBI responses in rat whisker follicles. With an advanced blast simulator, we assess the molecular responses in the whisker follicles in the rat model, which was exposed under a series of single blast intensities (15, 20, 25 and 30 psi). Gene networks for miRNA-dependent gene expression were constructed using sub-network enrichment analysis (SNEA) with respect to shared and shockwave intensity-specific microarray transcription profiling. Based on the SNEA analysis, core miRNAs (miR-26a, -27b, -29a, -34a, -181c and -183) were measured using quantitative RT-PCR. All the miRNA levels tested decreased in abundance in the whisker follicles following shockwave exposures. The results suggest shared responses across multiple intensity exposures, e.g. miR-183 in all intensities, whereas exposures at 15 and 20 psi triggered specific miRNA expressions, i.e., miR-29a and -34a, respectively. Multiple pathways and biological processes (e.g. DNA repair and mRNA processing) were enriched following a gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Our study provides the first evidence that miRNAs are responsive to shockwave exposures in mammalian hair follicles and these molecules may be useful biomarkers for primary blast-induced TBI.