miRDis: a Web tool for endogenous and exogenous microRNA discovery based on deep-sequencing data analysis

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Molecular Biology
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are increasingly recognized for their role in human health, particularly dietary miRNAs.
• Understanding cross-species miRNA transport is crucial for investigating their bioavailability and function.
• Small RNA sequencing is a key technology for miRNA discovery and studying exogenous miRNA presence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce microRNA Discovery (miRDis), a novel bioinformatics pipeline for analyzing small RNA sequencing data.
• To enable the detection and quantification of both endogenous and exogenous miRNAs, including those from dietary sources.
• To provide a web service for comprehensive miRNA annotation and expression profiling.

Main Methods:

• Development of the miRDis analysis pipeline for small RNA sequencing data.
• Deployment of a web service for annotation, expression profiling, and detection of novel and exogenous miRNAs.
• Proof-of-concept analysis using human plasma sequencing data from a milk-feeding study.

Main Results:

• miRDis successfully detected endogenous and exogenous miRNAs in human plasma samples.
• Three bovine miRNAs (bta-miR-378, -181*, and -150) were identified in human plasma, suggesting dietary uptake.
• miRDis demonstrated superior performance in miRNA detection and quantification compared to existing tools.

Conclusions:

• miRDis is an effective tool for identifying exogenous miRNAs from dietary sources in host species.
• The findings support the potential for dietary miRNAs to be absorbed and detected in human circulation.
• miRDis advances the study of cross-species miRNA transport and its implications for health.