Potential of hsa-miR200a-3p and hsa-miR502-3p as blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most important known dementia which affects thousands of people every year. Many factors are involved in this process, such as aberrant expression of miRNAs.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Firstly, we analyzed two microarray datasets related to AD (GSE48552, GSE129053) to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs, and two miRNAs were selected for further validation. Dataset analysis showed that the expression of hsa-miR200a-3p and hsa-miR502-3p were up-regulated in AD. These findings were validated in plasma samples by qRT-PCR. ROC curve analysis showed that plasma levels of both miRNAs might discriminate the AD and healthy controls. In addition, in silico analysis revealed that the upregulation of these miRNAs could promote AD progression via affecting the expression of target molecules mainly ATF6 and dynactin.

CONCLUSION: Totally, hsa-miR200a-3p and hsa-miR502-3p are upregulated in AD and their plasma levels can discriminate AD and healthy people, highlighting their potential as blood-based biomarker for AD.