Reader Comments

Post a new comment on this article

A hypothesis about diet, exogenous small RNAs, and gene expression

Posted by CeliaMRoss on 21 Jun 2016 at 12:55 GMT

As Satija, et al. (2016) point to the different variables that might help explain the results; nutritional epidemiology is a many faceted gem (1). Some recent literature hints at another possible facet, although more studies would have to be done confirm the hypothesis. While the following is still highly speculative, it provides good brain candy to ponder.

There is speculation in the literature about possible physiological effects of exogenous small RNAs from the diet and microbes (2, 3). How might this occur?

First of all, it has been asserted that exogenous small RNAs might influence gene expression posttranscriptionally (2, 3).

Second, certain oligonucleotides can bind through Hoogsteen-type bonding to the major grove of the double helix creating a triplex structure (4, 5). This may influence gene expression through multiple mechanisms. Thus, it has been speculated that nucleic acid triplexes might play a role in various health conditions (6, 7, 8)? One might ask, could exogenous RNA also be involved in some of this?

This raises more questions. Could the choice of diet and farming methods influence the make-up of exogenous small RNAs (3, 9, 10, 11)? Could this play some small role in nutritional epidemiology? This is still highly speculative but worthy of more research.

About the author:

www.CeliaMRoss.com

https://www.linkedin.com/...



1. Satija, A., et al. (2016). Plant-Based Dietary Patterns and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in US Men and Women: Results from Three Prospective Cohort Studies. PLoS Med. 14;13(6):e1002039.


2. Fritz JV, Heimtz-Buschart A, Ghosal A, et al. (2016). Sources and Functions of Extracellular Small RNAs in Human Circulation. Annu Rev Nutr. 2016 May 13. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...


3. Zhang L, Hou D, Chen X, et al. (2012). Exogenous plant MIR168a specifically targets mammalian LDLRAP1: evidence of cross-kingdom regulation by microRNA. Cell Res. 22(1):107-26. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...

4. Buske FA, Mattick JS, Bailey TL (2011). Potential in vivo roles of nucleic acid triple-helices. RNA Biol. 8(3):427-39. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...

5. Bacolla A, Wang G, Vasquez KM (2015). New Perspectives on DNA and RNA Triplexes As Effectors of Biological Activity. PLoS Genet. 11(12):e1005696. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...


6. Ross, CM (2016). A hypothesis about a possible molecular mechanism in Alzheimer’s disease. BAOJ Neurology [in press] http://bioaccent.org/

7. Akhter MZ, Rajeswari MR (2016). Triplex forming oligonucleotides targeted to hmga1 selectively inhibit its expression and induce apoptosis in human cervical cancer. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 21:1-15. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...


8. Singh HN, Rajeswari MR (2016). Identification of genes containing expanded purine repeats in the human genome and their apparent protective role against cancer. J Biomol Struct Dyn. (2016). 34(4):689-704. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...

9. Baier SR et al, (2014). MicroRNAs are absorbed in biologically meaningful amounts from nutritionally relevant doses of cow milk and affect gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, HEK-293 kidney cell cultures, and mouse livers. J Nutr. 144(10):1495-500. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...


10. Horikawa A, et al. (2015). Grazing-induced changes in muscle microRNA-206 and -208b expression in association with myogenic gene expression in cattle. Anim Sci J. 86(11):952-60. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...

11. Riedmaier I, et al. (2012). The physiological way: monitoring RNA expression changes as new approach to combat illegal growth promoter application. Drug Test Anal. 4 Suppl 1:70-4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...


Competing interests declared: I write about health issues.
report a concern respond to this posting