Bienertova Vasku, J. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2018

Circulating microRNA biomarkers for metastatic disease in neuroblastoma patients

In this study, the circulating miRNome from diagnostic neuroblastoma serum was assessed for identification of non-invasive biomarkers with potential in monitoring metastatic disease. After determining the circulating neuroblastoma miRNome, 743 miRNAs were screened in two independent cohorts of 131 and 54 patients. Evaluation of serum miRNA variance in a model testing for tumor stage, MYCN status, age at diagnosis and overall survival, revealed tumor stage as the most significant factor impacting miRNA abundance in neuroblastoma serum. Differential expression analysis between patients with metastatic and localized disease revealed 9 miRNAs strongly associated with metastatic stage 4 disease in both patient cohorts. Increasing levels of these miRNAs were also observed in serum from xenografted mice bearing human neuroblastoma tumors. Moreover, murine serum miRNA levels were strongly associated with tumor volume, suggesting this miRNA signature may be applied to monitor disease burden.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Mortality Data Suggests that Men Are More Fragile but Women Age Faster

Women on average live longer than men, which seems to suggest that women also age slower than men. However, the potential difference in pace of aging between sexes is a relatively controversial topic, and both positions \"women age slower\" and \"women and men age at the same pace\" have found some support. We thus employ mathematical methods previously established in model organisms to compare the pace of aging between the sexes using freely available mortality data from 13 countries. Our results support hypothesis that men age faster than women.

physiology↗