Title : A microRNA from Atropa belladonna is Highly Homologous to Homo sapiens miRNA; both miRNAs have a role on the Neurologically Relevant, Zinc-Finger Transcription Factor ZNF-691
Abstract:
Recent advances in ethnobotanical and neurological research indicate that ingested plants from our diet may not only be a source of nutrition but also a source of biologically relevant nucleic-acid-encoded genetic information. A major source of RNA-encoded information from plants has been shown to be derived from small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) such as microRNAs (miRNAs) that can transfer information horizontally between plants and humans. In human hosts, the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) is targeted by these miRNAs to effectively down-regulate expression of that mRNA target in the host CNS. In this paper, we provide evidence that the Atropa belladonna aba-miRNA-9497 (miRBase conserved ID: bdi-miRNA-9497) is highly homologous to the CNS-abundant Homo sapiens miRNA-378 (hsa-miRNA-378) and both target the zinc-finger transcription factor ZNF-691 mRNA 3′-UTR to down-regulate ZNF-691 mRNA abundance. We speculate that the potent neurotoxic actions of the multiple tropane alkaloids of Atropa belladonna may be supplemented by the neuroregulatory actions of aba-miRNA-9497 on ZNF-691, and this may be followed by the modulation in the expression of ZNF-691-sensitive genes. This is the first example of a human brain-enriched transcription factor, ZNF-691, targeted and down-regulated by a naturally occurring plant microRNA, with potential to modulate gene expression in the human CNS and thus contribute to the neurotoxicological-and-psychoactive properties of the Atropa belladonna species of the deadly nightshade Solanaceae family.
What will audience learn from your presentation?
- This study is one example of cross-kingdom regulation by exogenous plant microRNAs.
- The audience will learn that the transferred microRNAs from the medicinal plants may have an effect on the central nervous system in human hosts.
- The audience will learn that the identification of microRNA genes in medicinal plants is important since only one microRNA family can target multiple genes in the human hosts.
- The audience will learn that microRNAs derived from plants appear to regulate mammalian gene expression in a sequence-specific manner, they may help define a superior and more efficacious class of ribonucleic-acid-based pharmaceuticals that hold a tremendous potential as orally administered genetically targeted therapeutics.
- The audience will learn that the novel mechanisms of communication will considerably facilitate our understanding of biomedicine and applied nutrition and the nature miRNA-mediated dietary contributions to both human neurological health and disease.
