BACKGROUND: mural granulosa cells (MGCs) and cumulus cells (CCs) are two specialized cell types that differentiate from a common progenitor during folliculogenesis. Although these two cell types have specialized functions and gene expression profiles, little is known about their microRNA (miRNA) expression patterns. OBJECTIVE: to describe the miRNA profile of mural and cumulus granulosa cells from human pre-ovulatory follicles Methods: using small RNA sequencing, we definedinvestigated the miRNA expression profiles of human primary MGCs and CCs, isolated from healthy women undergoing ovum pick-up for in vitro fertilization (IVF)....

Background: Diagnostic screening of premalignant esophageal lesions is hampered by the absence of biomarkers indicative of metaplastic and/or malignant transformation. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the potential use of miRNAs as biomarkers capable of identifying patients with (pre)malignant lesions: Barrett’s esophagus (BE) metaplasia, high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Methods: A total of 69 patients were included in the study. Six serum samples from each of four study groups, i.e., patients with normal squamous epithelium (SE), BE, HGD and EAC, were profiled using...

The tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) 1/2 is a negative regulator of the nutrient-sensing kinase mechanistic target of rapamycin complex (mTORC1), and its function is generally associated with tumor suppression. Nevertheless, biallelic loss of function of TSC1 or TSC2 is rarely found in malignant tumors. Here, we show that TSC1/2 is highly expressed in Burkitt’s lymphoma cell lines and patient samples of human Burkitt’s lymphoma, a prototypical MYC-driven cancer. Mechanistically, we show that MYC induces TSC1 expression by transcriptional activation of the TSC1 promoter and repression of miR-15a. TSC1...

Loss of CD28 is a characteristic feature of T cell aging, but the underlying mechanisms of this loss are elusive. As differential expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been described between CD28+ and CD28- T cells, we hypothesized that altered miRNA expression contributes to the age-associated downregulation of CD28. To avoid the confounding effects of age-associated changes in the proportions of T cells at various differentiation stages in vivo, an experimental model system was used to study changes over time in the expression of miRNA associated with the loss...