Down-regulated miR-149-5p contributes to preeclampsia via modulating endoglin expression.

OBJECTIVE: Endoglin is expressed in human placenta and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Dysregulation of microRNAs in placental tissues has been recently suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Until now, few studies have shed light on the correlation between endoglin and microRNAs, the latter of which may regulate the expression of ENG, a gene encoding endoglin, in placenta. In this study, we aim to investigate the regulation of ENG by microRNAs. STUDY DESIGN: We located the microRNAs that might regulate the expression of ENG. Candidate microRNAs were tested if they had an impact on trophoblast function. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We compared endoglin expression between normotensive and preeclamptic placentas by using immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR. Downregulated microRNAs in preeclamptic placenta were revealed from a literature review. A bioinformatics assay was performed to predict those that might target ENG. Real-time PCR, Western blotting and dual luciferase assay were used to verify the targeting. The effects of the microRNAs on trophoblasts were evaluated by transwell invasion assay. RESULTS: The endoglin level was significantly higher in preeclamptic placenta than in normotensive placenta. ENG was validated as the direct target of miR-149-5p and was inversely correlated with it. MiR-149-5p promoted the invasion of trophoblast cells, and this promotion was abrogated by the overexpression of ENG. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of miR-149-5p in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia and provide new insight into the development of the disease.

Establishment of a new method based on nucleic acid functionalized GO for the rapid detection of Salmonella typhimurium carrying SSeC gene / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective To establish a simple, efficient and low-cost method for the detection of Salmonella typhimurium carrying SSeC gene. Methods In this study, a nano-biosensor ( FAM-P/GO) was successfully established based on the noncovalent assembly of carboxy-fluorescein ( FAM)-labeled probe and graphene oxide ( GO) . The target gene at different concentrations and SSeC gene-harbored bacterium sam-ples were detected by the FAM-P/GO nano-biosensor to evaluate its sensitivity. The specificity of the estab-lished nano-biosensor was evaluated by using DNAs with mismatched base pairs and single-stranded DNAs ( ssDNAs) extracted from various species. Results The established strategy for SSeC gene detection showed a good linear range of 0. 05-1. 0 μmol/L (R2=0. 992 1) with a lower limit of 0. 05 μmol/L. Moreover, the lower detection limit for target bacterium samples was 103 CFU/ml and the fluorescence intensity increased linearly with the concentration from 103 CFU/ml to 108 CFU/ml. The signal-to-noise ( S/N) of the experi-mental group was much greater than that of the control group, which indicated that the establish method was highly specific. Conclusion The FAM-P/GO nano-biosensor was successfully established in this study, which provided a new and possible way for the rapid detection of Salmonella typhimurium harboring SSeC gene.