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0Impact Factor: SJIF 2021 - 5.81 2022 - 5.94
БИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
УДК 577.2:616-009
IN SILICO ANALYSIS OF MIR-7-5P INTERACTIONS WITH MRNA TARGETS OF GENES IMPLICATED IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE PATHOGENESIS
SHAYAKHMETOVA ALTYNAY YELTAYKYZY
Master's student at Satbayev University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
BELKOZHAYEV AYAZ MARATOVICH
Ph.D, Associate Professor, Satbayev University, M.A. Aitkhozhin Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Annotation. Neurodegenerative diseases (ND), namely Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Huntington's disease (HD), are characterized by neuronal dysfunction and pathological protein accumulation, leading to progressive neuronal loss. The lack of reliable diagnostic biomarkers remains a significant challenge, positioning microRNAs (miRNAs) as promising candidates due to their crucial role as gene regulators. miR-7-5p is closely associated with PD pathogenesis, targeting key genes such as SNCA and NREP. Bioinformatic analyses highlight its interactions with these pivotal genes, supporting its potential as a biomarker for early diagnosis and therapeutic strategies. Future research should be focused on advancing the clinical efficacy of circulating miRNAs in human plasma.
Key words: neurodegenerative diseases, miRNA, mRNA, biomarkers, bioinformatic analysis, gene expression
Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are caused by brain atrophy, neuronal dysfunction and protein aggregation, leading to progressive neuron loss and manifesting as motor, cognitive or behavioral disorders [1, p. 1450; 2, p. 53-54]. One of the key challenges in addressing NDs is the lack of reliable diagnostic biomarkers. miRNAs are involved in these processes by regulating the expression of genes associated with neurodegenerative diseases, making them promising candidates for diagnostic biomarkers [1, p. 1450-1451]. miRNAs are short, non-coding molecules, normally consisting of 20-22 nucleotides, that take part in post-transcriptional regulation of genes by binding to mRNAs and either degrading them or repressing their translation. Numerous miRNAs have been reported to target and regulate specific genes [2, p. 54-55; 1, p. 1457]. Common neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Huntington's disease (HD) arise from neuronal dysfunction, accumulation of neurotoxins or build-up of various proteins, resulting in Lewy body formation and neuronal loss, particularly in the substantia nigra [2, p. 58-59]. miR-7-5p interacts with the mRNAs of genes responsible for these processes, regulating their expression [1, p. 1457].
Using the bioinformatics tool TargetScan (https://www.targetscan.org/vert_80/), we identified 566 potential gene interactions with miR-7-5p in the human body. Among these, the mRNAs of SNCA and NREP genes, which hold importance in neuronal dysfunction, were identified as main targets. Further analysis using the STRING (https://string-db.org/) bioinformatics network revealed that the SNCA gene interacts with PRKN, a gene frequently associated with neurodegenerative diseases, particularly certain hereditary forms of PD.
Our future research aims to investigate the expression of circulating miRNAs in human plasma samples, based on the identification of miR-7-5p interactions with mRNAs of genes such as SNCA and NREP, which are involved in neuronal damage. These findings suggest the potential of miRNAs like miR-7-5p as biomarkers for early diagnosis and as targets for developing alternative therapeutic strategies for such diseases.
Impact Factor: SJIF 2021 - 5.81 2022 - 5.94
БИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
REFERENCES
1. Belkozhayev AM, Al-Yozbaki M, George A, Ye Niyazova R, Sharipov KO, Byrne LJ, Wilson CM. Extracellular Vesicles, Stem Cells and the Role of miRNAs in Neurodegeneration. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2022; 20(8):1450-1478. doi: 10.2174/1570159X19666210817150141. PMID: 34414870; PMCID: PMC9881087.
2. Li S, Lei Z, Sun T. The role of microRNAs in neurodegenerative diseases: a review. Cell Biol Toxicol. 2023 Feb;39(1):53-83. doi: 10.1007/s10565-022-09761-x. Epub 2022 Sep 20. PMID: 36125599; PMCID: PMC9486770.
