Myklebust Mette Pernille, Rosenlund Benedikte, Gjengstø Peder, Bercea Bogdan Stefan, Karlsdottir Ása, Brydøy Marianne, Dahl Olav
Department of Oncology and Medical Physics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Department of Urology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Front Genet. 2019 May 22;10:463. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00463. eCollection 2019.
Cell-free microRNAs have been reported as biomarkers for several diseases. For testicular germ cell tumors (GCT), circulating microRNAs 371a-3p and 372-3p in serum and plasma have been proposed as biomarkers for diagnostic and disease monitoring purposes. The most widely used method for quantification of specific microRNAs in serum and plasma is reverse transcriptase real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) by the comparative Ct-method. In this method one or several reference genes or reference microRNAs are needed in order to normalize and calculate the relative microRNA levels across samples. One of the pitfalls in analysis of microRNAs from serum and plasma is the release of microRNAs from blood cells during hemolysis. This is an important issue because varying degrees of hemolysis are not uncommon in routine blood sampling. Thus, hemolysis must be taken into consideration when working with circulating microRNAs from blood. miR-93-5p, miR-30b-5p, and miR-20a-5p have been reported as reference microRNA in analysis of the miR-371a-373 cluster. We here show how these three microRNAs are influenced by hemolysis. We also propose a new reference microRNA, miR-191-5p, which is relatively stable in serum samples with mild hemolysis. In addition, we show how hemolysis can have effect on the reported microRNA levels in patient samples when these reference microRNAs are used in samples with varying levels of hemolysis.
无细胞微小RNA已被报道为多种疾病的生物标志物。对于睾丸生殖细胞肿瘤(GCT),血清和血浆中循环的微小RNA 371a - 3p和372 - 3p已被提议作为用于诊断和疾病监测的生物标志物。血清和血浆中特定微小RNA定量分析最广泛使用的方法是通过比较Ct法的逆转录实时定量PCR(RT - qPCR)。在这种方法中,需要一个或几个参考基因或参考微小RNA来标准化并计算不同样本间的相对微小RNA水平。从血清和血浆中分析微小RNA的一个陷阱是溶血过程中血细胞释放微小RNA。这是一个重要问题,因为在常规血液采样中不同程度的溶血并不罕见。因此,在处理血液中循环的微小RNA时必须考虑溶血情况。miR - 93 - 5p、miR - 30b - 5p和miR - 20a - 5p已被报道为分析miR - 371a - 373簇时的参考微小RNA。我们在此展示这三种微小RNA如何受溶血影响。我们还提出了一种新的参考微小RNA,miR - 191 - 5p,它在轻度溶血的血清样本中相对稳定。此外,我们展示了当在不同溶血水平的样本中使用这些参考微小RNA时,溶血如何影响患者样本中报道的微小RNA水平。