"Extracellular microRNAs: searching for a signature of lymphocyte activation"

Il 28/06/2013 ore 14.30 - 15.30

Aula seminari IBP, 3° piano Istituto di Biochimica delle Proteine, CNR
Via P. Castellino, 111 80131 Napoli

Dr Paola de Candia, from Istituto Nazionale Genetica Molecolare (Milano) will talk about thecommunication between immune cells that involves not only secretion of cytokines and chemokines, but also the release of membrane vesicles of very small size (20-100 nanometers) called exosomes (or also nanovesicles), that enclose soluble cellular components derived from donor cells. It has been demonstrated that also this second mechanism has functional consequences including the induction, amplification and/or modulation of immune responses. In addition, a novel mechanism of genetic exchange between cells has been recently described, characterized by exosome-mediated transfer of mRNAs but also regulatory RNA, such as microRNA (miRNA). We aim at studying the relation between lymphocyte intracellular miRNome and extracellular representation of miRNAs associated with purified exosomes, in order to analyze the biological aspects of miRNAs release as a functional module during lymphocytic activation.

Moreover, our working hypothesis is that there exists not only a paracrine but also a systemic exchange involving miRNA containing vesicles released by activated immune cells.

Indeed, several published results report that blood circulating miRNAs could be used as powerful biomarkers showing that their profiles have the ability to monitor altered physiological states, such as for instance, pregnancy, sepsis and liver injury, as well as to discriminate healthy subjects from patients within a largely diversified range of human pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, stroke and multiple sclerosis, as well as different tumor types. In line with these studies, our laboratory is strongly interested in developing serum circulating miRNAs (and in particular, exosomes-associated miRNAs) as potential biomarkers of immune response.

 

 

Organizzato da:
CNR, IBP

Referente organizzativo:
Gianfranco Peluso
CNR - Istituto di biochimica delle proteine
Via P. Castellino, 111 80131 Napoli
g.peluso@ibp.cnr.it
081/6132280

Modalità di accesso: ingresso libero