Poland: Plant miRNAs in human breast milk

Detection of Plant miRNAs Abundance in Human Breast Milk

Anna Lukasik, Iwona Brzozowska, Urszula Zielenkiewicz and Piotr Zielenkiewicz | Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland, Department of Plant Molecular Biology, Institute of Experimental Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland | 2018 | International Journal of Molecular Sciences; vol 19, no. 37 doi:10.3390/ijms19010037

miRNAs control crucial biological processes, including metabolism, immune responses and cell proliferation, and have been observed to be present in breast milk. Exosomes present in milk are miRNA enriched and enables protection of miRNAs from harsh conditions present in the human gastrointestinal tract. Thus, it is assumed miRNAs can be transferred to the infant via the gastrointestinal tract and contribute to infant development. Previous studies have proven that bovine milk-derived miRNAs are bioavailable to humans after consumption. This study performed a RT-qPCR experiment on the MIC Real-Time Cycler to evaluate the presence of plant food-derived miRNAs in human breast milk. Five plant food-derived miRNAs were identified, with only two were confirmed to be present in exosomes.