Expression of Mir-543 in Parkinson’s Disease [Conference Winner Abstract]

Introduction Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide, primarily caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons [1]. The main symptoms of PD include bradykinesia, tremor, and rigidity [2]. Despite extensive research on the disease, there is still no cure to fully treat PD or reliable diagnostic tools capable of detecting it in its early stages [3]. Many researchers are now investigating the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in biological processes, including their involvement in neurodegenerative diseases. miRNAs derived from extracellular vesicles (EVs) are being explored as potential biomarkers that could aid in early disease detection, assess disease progression and severity, and help tailor the most effective treatment based on an individual's miRNA profile [4]. MiR-543 regulates cell proliferation, migration, inflammation. In neurodegeneration, miR-543 induces α-synuclein aggregation, which leads to the death of dopaminergic neurons [5]. Aim The aim of this study was to measure the expression of EV miR-543 in the blood serum of PD patients and control group and to evaluate its potential correlation with clinical and demographic data. Methods Extracellular vesicle (EV) miR-543 was isolated from blood serum using the "exoRNeasy Midi Kit", transcribed into cDNA, and quantified via RT-PCR. Statistical analyses included Student's t-test (paired/unpaired), ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient using GraphPad Prism 8, statistically significant if p<0.05. miR-543 expression was compared between 89 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and a control group of 20 individuals without neurodegenerative disorders. The miR-543 profile was analyzed in relation to age, sex, disease onset, duration, symptom severity, and treatment methods. Results In this study participated 109 individuals: 20 older age individuals in whom neurodegenerative disorders were not detected, 37 received only medication, 39 underwent deep brain stimulation and 13 were treated with gamma knife surgery. The results indicated that miR-543 expression was downregulated in PD patients compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in miR-543 expression between different treatment methods. After gamma knife surgery miR-543 expression downregulated even more. MiR-543 expression after deep brain stimulation did not significantly change. When bradykinesia and tremor were more severe, miR-543 expression was upregulated; however, the data did not show a statistically significant difference. Sex, age, disease onset, duration didn’t show any significant impact to miR-543 expression. Conclusions In conclusion, miR-543 is significantly downregulated in Parkinson's disease and demonstrates potential as a diagnostic biomarker for the disease. However, further research is needed to assess the significance of miR-543 as a biomarker before considering its use in clinical trials.