Method for assessment of stress coping using microRNA

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25670352
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: General internal medicine(including psychosomatic medicine)
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: ROKUTAN Kazuhito 徳島大学, ヘルスバイオサイエンス研究部, 教授 (10230898)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ストレス / ストレスコーピング / マイクロRNA / バイオマーカー / 末梢血

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It has been suggested that microRNA plays a crucial role in stress coping reactions. In this project, we succeeded to identify chronic psychological stress-responsive microRNAs (miR-16, miR-20b, miR-26b, miR-29a, miR126, miR-144, miR-144*) (PLoS One, 2013). We have also identify an anxiety and/or depression-associated miR-144 in healthy medical staffs of private hospitals. In addition, we examined differentially expressed microRNAs in peripheral blood from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, and we revealed 6 microRNASs differentially expressed in those patients. Using the Target scan software, we found that the differentially expressed microRNAs significantly augmented inflammatory reaction and suppressed the protein synthesis pathway. Our results suggest that distinct microRNAs in peripheral blood may be useful for assessment of stress responses in healthy subjects and for diagnosis of pathological fatigue.

Free Research Field

ストレス科学