Immunogenetics Laboratory, Molecular Biology Department, Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP), São José do Rio Preto, Brazil.
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, United States.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021 May 14;11:670548. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.670548. eCollection 2021.
MicroRNAs are molecules belonging to an evolutionarily conserved family of small non-coding RNAs, which act on post-transcriptional gene regulation, causing messenger RNA (mRNA) degradation or inhibiting mRNA translation into proteins. These molecules represent potential biomarkers for diagnosis, non-invasive prognosis, and monitoring the development of the disease. Moreover, they may provide additional information on the pathophysiology of parasitic infections and guide strategies for treatment. The Apicomplexan parasite modifies the levels of microRNAs and mRNAs in infected host cells by modulating the innate and adaptive immune responses, facilitating its survival within the host. Some studies have shown that microRNAs are promising molecular markers for developing diagnostic tools for human toxoplasmosis. MicroRNAs can be detected in human specimens collected using non-invasive procedures. changes in the circulating host microRNAs have been associated with infection in mice and ocular toxoplasmosis in humans. Besides, microRNAs can be amplified from samples using sensitive and molecular-specific approaches such as real-time PCR. This review presents recent findings of the role that microRNAs play during infection and discuss their potential use of these small nuclei acid molecules to different approaches such as laboratory diagnosis, modulation of cell and tissue infected as other potential applications in human toxoplasmosis.
微小 RNA 是一种属于进化上保守的小非编码 RNA 家族的分子，它们在后转录基因调控中起作用，导致信使 RNA（mRNA）降解或抑制 mRNA 翻译成蛋白质。这些分子是诊断、非侵入性预后和监测疾病发展的潜在生物标志物。此外，它们还可以提供有关寄生虫感染病理生理学的额外信息，并指导治疗策略。Apicomplexan 寄生虫通过调节先天和适应性免疫反应来调节感染宿主细胞中的微小 RNA 和 mRNA 水平，从而促进其在宿主中的存活。一些研究表明，微小 RNA 是开发人类弓形虫病诊断工具的有前途的分子标志物。可以使用非侵入性程序收集人类标本来检测微小 RNA。在小鼠中感染 和人眼弓形虫病中，循环宿主微小 RNA 的变化与感染有关。此外，微小 RNA 可以使用敏感和分子特异性方法（如实时 PCR）从样本中扩增。本文综述了微小 RNA 在感染过程中所起作用的最新发现，并讨论了它们在实验室诊断、感染细胞和组织的调节等不同方法中的潜在用途，以及在人类弓形虫病中的其他潜在应用。
