Search for miRNAs from exosomes relevant to epileptogenesis

• Grant number: 21/14564-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: February 28, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Síntia Iole Nogueira Belangero
• Grantee: Beatriz Enguidanos Villena Rueda
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/24561-5 - Epileptogenesis, biomarkers and post-traumatic epilepsy, AP.TEM

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small molecules of endogenous regulatory non-coding RNAs that provide an epigenetic mechanism for the regulation of protein expression levels of target genes. They can be detected peripherally and carried by extracellular vesicles (EVs), which can be released by virtually any cell type, including neural cells, and are able to cross the blood-brain barrier functioning as mediators in cell communication. The miRNAs are related to many brain functions that are relevant to epilepsy and traumatic brain injury (TBI), including cell death, neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity. In the present project we seek to identify patterns of changes in the levels of circulating and extracellular vesicle-bound miRNAs after TBI that may be related to the development of TPE and have possible therapeutic value. This project is innovative because it will analyze miRNAs, which are regulatory molecules of diverse cellular processes, possibly brain-derived (given that they will be encapsulated in EVs) and peripherally detected that are affected in TBI and may be predictors of TPE.(AU)