Identification and application for rapid diagnostic method of organ-specific biomarker in dolphin

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26450293
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Aquatic life science
• Research Institution: Nihon University
• Principal Investigator: ITOU Takuya 日本大学, 生物資源科学部, 准教授 (20307820)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SUZUKI Miwa 日本大学, 生物資源科学部, 准教授 (70409069) ; SUZUKI Yuki 日本大学, 生物資源科学部, 助教 (30712492)
• Research Collaborator: SEGAWA Takao
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: イルカ / バイオマーカー / micro RNA / 診断

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) are focused on the role of biomarker because they are stable in serum and plasma, and some of them express in the specific organs and increase with the organ injury. Thus miRNAs may be very useful as biomarkers for monitoring the health and condition of dolphins and for detecting disorders in aquariums. Here, a small RNA library was made from dolphin lung, liver and spleen, and miRNA expression patterns were then determined for 15 different tissues. We identified 62 conserved miRNA homologs in the dolphin small RNA library and found high expression miRNAs in specific tissues: miR-125b and miR-221 were highly expressed in brain, miR-23b in heart, miR-199a and miR-223 in lung, and miR-122-5p in liver. Some of these tissue-enriched miRNAs may be useful as specific and sensitive diagnostic blood biomarkers for organ injury in dolphins.

Free Research Field

獣医疾病予防学