MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small RNAs of 18ââ?¬â??23 nucleotides that regulate gene expression. Recently, plasma miRNAs\nhave been investigated as biomarkers for various diseases. In the present study, we assessed whether the miRNA expression profiles\nof tubular tissues could discriminate proximal tubule injury and diagnose acute kidney injury (AKI) and renal tubular dysfunction\nwithoutmorphological changes. miRNAexpression was assessed with miRNAarray and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase\nchain reaction (RT-PCR) using a reverse primer for a stem loop structure. Profiling of human and rat tubular tissues, including the\nkidney, lung, small intestine, and various exocrine glands, indicated that the profiles of miR-200a/b/c, miR-145, miR-192, miR-194,\nmiR-216a/b, miR-217, and miR-449a were adequate for discriminating tubular tissues. In the kidney, miR-192 and miR-194 were\nhighly expressed, whereas miR-145 and miR-449a were absent. In addition, the combination of miR-200a/b/c, miR-192, and miR-\n194 in plasma was extremely useful for diagnosing AKI.Urinary miR-200a levels increased in renal tubular dysfunction. Our results\nsuggest that expression profiling is useful for the discrimination of injured tissues with a tubular structure.
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