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  • Title: Proteins and microRNAs are differentially expressed in tear fluid from patients with Alzheimer's disease.
    Author: Kenny A, Jiménez-Mateos EM, Zea-Sevilla MA, Rábano A, Gili-Manzanaro P, Prehn JHM, Henshall DC, Ávila J, Engel T, Hernández F.
    Journal: Sci Rep; 2019 Oct 28; 9(1):15437. PubMed ID: 31659197.
    Abstract:
    Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a progressive loss of neurons and cognitive functions. Therefore, early diagnosis of AD is critical. The development of practical and non-invasive diagnostic tests for AD remains, however, an unmet need. In the present proof-of-concept study we investigated tear fluid as a novel source of disease-specific protein and microRNA-based biomarkers for AD development using samples from patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD. Tear protein content was evaluated via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and microRNA content was profiled using a genome-wide high-throughput PCR-based platform. These complementary approaches identified enrichment of specific proteins and microRNAs in tear fluid of AD patients. In particular, we identified elongation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) as a unique protein present only in AD samples. Total microRNA abundance was found to be higher in tears from AD patients. Among individual microRNAs, microRNA-200b-5p was identified as a potential biomarker for AD with elevated levels present in AD tear fluid samples compared to controls. Our study suggests that tears may be a useful novel source of biomarkers for AD and that the identification and verification of biomarkers within tears may allow for the development of a non-invasive and cost-effective diagnostic test for AD.
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