MicroRNA for treating cancer and asthma

A microRNA that regulates inflammation shows promise as a treatment for inflammatory diseases such as asthma and cancer. The microRNA, known as miR-223, is highly expressed in blood cells that cause inflammation (neutrophils). When they're working correctly, those blood cells protect the body against infections, but sometimes they damage host tissue instead of microbes, causing chronic inflammation and disease.

To uncover the link between miR-223 and inflammation, a Purdue University research team created a zebrafish totally deficient of miR-223. Then they cut off a small chunk of its fin. "The inflammation was really robust," said Qing Deng, a professor of biological sciences at Purdue and corresponding author of the paper. "Neutrophils accumulated at the wound and they just kept coming. This is consistent with the literature, but we wanted to understand why."

Extensive gene expression analysis led them to pathway NF-kB, a protein complex found in nearly all animal cell types that regulates inflammation and cell proliferation. Heightened activation of this pathway is the cause of increased inflammation, although it's limited to the deeper, or basal, layer of the epithelium. This means any therapeutics would need to reach the basal layer to work.

The same pathway plays an important role in human bronchial epithelial cells, which are critical in the development of asthma, according to the study. MiR-223 suppresses the pathway, which means supplementing it to epithelial cells could help control inflammatory disease.
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Key regulator of male infertility

The protein complex known as Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 PRC1. PRC1 activates specific germline genes and the production of healthy sperm. It is responsible for production of health male sperm.

Male mammals are born with all the reproductive germline cells and inheritable genetics needed to make healthy fertile sperm and offspring. But the sperm isn't fertile at childhood.
PRC1 also blocks the specific genes and the activation of fertile sperm production until reproductive age.

Researchers show in their current study that when mice reach reproductive age, the PRC1 protein complex changes. It sheds reproductive germline gene components that block fertile sperm production and substitutes in a component that start spermatogenesis.

The repressor of sperm production, PRC1 also promotes gene activation to produce sperm at maturity. The scientists also found that when PRC1 is disrupted, such as in male mice bred to not express PRC1, the animals have smaller testes and are unable to produce healthy sperm or offspring.
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