Prediction and diagnosis of health effects of essential elements from miRNAs in urine and blood

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K22907
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 63:Environmental analyses and evaluation and related fields
• Research Institution: Shibaura Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Yajima Ichiro 芝浦工業大学, システム理工学部, 教授 (80469022)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 元素 / miRNA / 皮膚

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The exposure study was conducted to clarify the possible health effects of the elements through the function of miRNAs. In particular, since the skin is the frontline of exposure to various environmental factors, we conducted the study using human skin keratinocytes and melanocytes. We prepared inhibitor and mimic type miRNAs for the identified element-related miRNAs, and performed functional analysis by transfection. The results revealed that there are miRNAs that affect proliferative activity, melanogenesis, and apoptosis.
These results suggest that artificial regulation of miRNA functions may contribute to the development of preventive and therapeutic methods for element-induced diseases.

Free Research Field

環境健康科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

元素はヒトが地球上で生きる上で決して避けて通れない物質であり、自身もまた元素で構成されている。一方でmiRNAはヒトの健康や疾病を予防・治療するための最先端のツールである。この「元素」と「miRNA」の関連性を機能的に解析した研究は皆無であり、新たな学術的意味を見出す研究と言える。
また、今回明らかとなった「元素」と「miRNA」の関連性は、様々な疾患、特に元素に起因する疾患の予防や治療に大きく寄与する可能性を示しており、今後のより詳細な研究と予防法・治療法の開発が期待される。