miR-3064-5p and miR-4745-5p affect heparin sensitivity in patients undergoing cardiac surgery by regulating AT-III and factor X mRNA levels

Serum/glucose starvation enhances binding of miR-4745-5p and miR-6798-5p to HNRNPA1 mRNA 3'UTR: A novel method to identify miRNAs binding to mRNA 3'UTR using λN peptide-boxB sequence

Serum/glucose starvation causes complete loss of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP A1) without altering mRNA levels. However, the mechanisms driving hnRNP A1 downregulation during serum/glucose starvation are not yet well understood. Using the novel interaction between the λN peptide and boxB sequence (λN/boxB system) and miRNA microarray analysis, we aimed to identify specific-binding microRNAs (miRs or miRNAs) targeting HNRNPA1 mRNA 3'UTR under serum/glucose-starved conditions. Four miRNAs were identified as serum/glucose starvation-driven miRNAs for HNRNPA1 mRNA 3'UTR. Reporter assays, anti-miRNA and mutated miRNA-based assays, photoactivatable ribonucleoside-enhanced crosslinking and immunoprecipitation/reverse transcribed-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and transient overexpression of miRNAs showed that miR-4745-5p and miR-6798-5p suppress hnRNP A1 protein levels via enhancement of binding to HNRNPA1 mRNA 3'UTR under serum/glucose-starved condition. miR-4745-5p and miR-6798-5p overexpression significantly decreased growth rates, which was rescued by co-transfection with anti-miRNA for miR-4745-5p and miR-6798-5p. Anti-miRNA transfection for miR-4745-5p and miR-6798-5p significantly increased growth rates under serum/glucose-starved conditions. Furthermore, hnRNP A1 overexpression recovered miR-4745-5p- and miR-6798-5p-induced growth suppression. These findings indicated that miR-4745-5p and miR-6798-5p are serum/glucose starvation-driven miRNAs for hnRNP A1 and validated the λN/boxB system as a simple and useful method for detecting mRNA 3'UTR-bound miRNA.

Review of microRNA detection workflows from liquid biopsy for disease diagnostics

MicroRNAs have emerged as effective biomarkers in disease diagnostics, particularly cancer, due to their role as regulatory sequences. More recently, microRNAs have been detected in liquid biopsies, which hold immense potential for early disease diagnostics. This review comprehensively analyses distinct liquid biopsy microRNA detection methods validated with clinical samples. Each step in the microRNA detection workflow, including sample collection, RNA isolation, processing, and detection of target microRNAs, has been thoroughly assessed. The review discusses the advantages and limitations of established and novel techniques in microRNA detection workflows, discussing their diagnostic capabilities and potential for future implementation at scale.

Finding a common definition of heparin resistance in adult cardiac surgery: communication from the ISTH SSC subcommittee on perioperative and critical care thrombosis and hemostasis

Ensuring adequate anticoagulation for patients requiring cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is important due to the adverse consequences of inadequate anticoagulation with respect to bleeding and thrombosis. When target anticoagulation is not achieved with typical doses, the term heparin resistance is routinely used despite the lack of uniform diagnostic criteria. Prior reports and guidance documents that define heparin resistance in patients requiring CPB and guidance documents remain variable based on the lack of standardized criteria. As a result, we conducted a review of clinical trials and reports to evaluate the various heparin resistance definitions employed in this clinical setting and to identify potential standards for future clinical trials and clinical management. In addition, we also aimed to characterize the differences in the reported incidence of heparin resistance in the adult cardiac surgical literature based on the variability of both target-activated clotting (ACT) values and unfractionated heparin doses. Our findings suggest that the most extensively reported ACT target for CPB is 480 seconds or higher. Although most publications define heparin resistance as a failure to achieve this target after a weight-based dose of either 400 U/kg or 500 U/kg of heparin, a standardized definition would be useful to guide future clinical trials and help improve clinical management. We propose the inability to obtain an ACT target for CPB of 480 seconds or more after 500 U/kg as a standardized definition for heparin resistance in this setting.

Recent Advances in Extracellular Vesicles in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Emergent Perspectives

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe and incurable neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive death of motor neurons, leading to paralysis and death. It is a rare disease characterized by high patient-to-patient heterogeneity, which makes its study arduous and complex. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as important players in the development of ALS. Thus, ALS phenotype-expressing cells can spread their abnormal bioactive cargo through the secretion of EVs, even in distant tissues. Importantly, owing to their nature and composition, EVs' formation and cargo can be exploited for better comprehension of this elusive disease and identification of novel biomarkers, as well as for potential therapeutic applications, such as those based on stem cell-derived exosomes. This review highlights recent advances in the identification of the role of EVs in ALS etiopathology and how EVs can be promising new therapeutic strategies.