母乳miRNA的研究进展

Research progress of microRNA in breast milk

母乳是新生儿营养的天然生物学模板，其质量可直接影响婴幼儿的生长发育。母乳不仅可以为新生儿提供生长发育所需要的营养，而且富含多种生物学活性成分，可影响母乳喂养婴儿胃肠道、神经及免疫系统的发育。近年来，研究发现，与其他体液相比，母乳中富含多种microRNA（miRNA）。miRNA是一类短链非编码核酸，主要功能是在转录后水平抑制mRNA翻译或使其降解，从而调控基因表达。研究表明母乳miRNA在婴儿胃肠道可免受消化，并被吸收至血液循环，在组织细胞发挥其生物学作用。母乳中miRNA与免疫保护作用相关，在感染和免疫性疾病的预防和治疗中可能有重要意义，并具有调节生物体内物质代谢和促进生长发育等作用。该文就母乳中miRNA在婴儿胃肠道的被吸收机制及其对母乳喂养婴儿的潜在保护作用作一综述。

Breast milk is the natural biological template for infants＇ nutrition. The quality of milk direct- ly affects the growth and development of infants. Breast milk provides not only essential nutrition for infants＇ growth and development, but various bioactive components,posing an effect on the development of gastrointesti- nal tract, nervous system and immune system of the breastfed infant. In recent years, studies have found that breast milk is one of the richest sources of microRNA（miRNA） compared with other body fluids. The miRNA is a kind of short chain noncoding nucleic acid, regulating gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Potential effects of exogenous food-derived microRNAs on gene expression have been demonstrated, together with the sta- bility of milk-derived microRNAs in the gastrointestinal tract. Studies have found miRNA in breast milk is asso- ciated with immunomodulation, can regulate the metabolism and promote the growth and development. This pa- per reviews the absorption mechanisms and potential protection on breast-fed infants of miRNA in breast milk.