microRNA (miRNA) speciation in Alzheimer's disease (AD) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and extracellular fluid (ECF)

Human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), produced by the choroid plexus and secreted into the brain ventricles and subarachnoid space, plays critical roles in intra-cerebral transport and the biophysical and immune protection of the brain. CSF composition provides valuable insight into soluble pathogenic bio-markers that may be diagnostic for brain disease. In these experiments we analyzed amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide and micro RNA (miRNA) abundance in CSF and in short post-mortem interval (PMI <2.1 hr) brain tissue-derived extracellular fluid (ECF) from Alzheimer's disease (AD) and age-matched control neocortex. There was a trend for decreased abundance of Aβ42 in the CSF and ECF in AD but it did not reach statistical significance (mean age ~72 yr; N=12; p~0.06, ANOVA). The most abundant nucleic acids in AD CSF and ECF were miRNAs, and their speciation and inducibility were studied further. Fluorescent miRNA-array-based analysis indicated significant increases in miRNA-9, miRNA-125b, miRNA-146a, miRNA-155 in AD CSF and ECF (N=12; p<0.01, ANOVA). Primary human neuronal-glial (HNG) cell co-cultures stressed with AD-derived ECF also displayed an up-regulation of these miRNAs, an effect that was quenched using the anti-NF-кB agents caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) or 1-fluoro-2-[2-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-ethenyl]-benzene (CAY10512). Increases in miRNAs were confirmed independently using a highly sensitive LED-Northern dot-blot assay. Several of these NF-кB-sensitive miRNAs are known to be up-regulated in AD brain, and associate with the progressive spreading of inflammatory neurodegeneration. The results indicate that miRNA-9, miRNA-125b, miRNA-146a and miRNA-155 are CSF- and ECF-abundant, NF-кB-sensitive pro-inflammatory miRNAs, and their enrichment in circulating CSF and ECF suggest that they may be involved in the modulation or proliferation of miRNA-triggered pathogenic signaling throughout the brain and central nervous system (CNS).