By influencing protein translation, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as powerful regulators of a wide range of biological processes. miRNAs can be found freely circulating in blood as well as in circulating exosomes. It has been speculated that evaluating the quantity of miRNAs contained in exosomes may serve as a better diagnostic and prognostic tool than those found freely circulating.
A good test case for this relationship is to look at miRNA dysregulation effecting Canine Congestive Heart Failure, resulting from Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease (MMVD), in these two contexts. In order to do this, we are assessing levels of miR-1, miR-126, and miR-133a, in nine small breed, older dogs with this disorder, compared to healthy dogs, using Realtime qPCR analysis.
We hypothesize that our results will confirm the assertion that exosomes reveal a more reliable indication of MMVD than by quantifying freely circulating miRNAs.
