Person:
Zelaya Huerta, María Victoria

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Zelaya Huerta

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María Victoria

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Ciencias de la Salud

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0000-0002-3692-3515

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812289

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Gender-dependent deregulation of linear and circular RNA variants of homer1 in the entorhinal cortex of Alzheimer’s disease
    (MDPI, 2021) Urdánoz Casado, Amaya; Sánchez Ruiz de Gordoa, Javier; Robles Solano, Maitane; Acha Santamaría, Blanca; Roldán, Miren; Zelaya Huerta, María Victoria; Blanco Luquin, Idoia; Mendióroz Iriarte, Maite; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
    The HOMER1 gene is involved in synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. Recent studies show that circular RNA derived from HOMER1 (circHOMER1) expression is altered in some Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain regions. In addition, HOMER1 messenger (mRNA) levels have been associated with β-Amyloid (Aβ) deposits in brain cortical regions. Our aim was to measure the expression levels of HOMER1 circRNAs and their linear forms in the human AD entorhinal cortex. First, we showed downregulation of HOMER1B/C and HOMER1A mRNA and hsa_circ_0006916 and hsa_circ_0073127 levels in AD female cases compared to controls by RT-qPCR. A positive correlation was observed between HOMER1B/C, HOMER1A mRNA, and hsa_circ_0073128 with HOMER1B/C protein only in females. Global average area of Aβ deposits in entorhinal cortex samples was negatively correlated with HOMER1B/C, HOMER1A mRNA, and hsa_circ_0073127 in both genders. Furthermore, no differences in DNA methylation were found in two regions of HOMER1 promoter between AD cases and controls. To sum up, we demonstrate that linear and circular RNA variants of HOMER1 are downregulated in the entorhinal cortex of female patients with AD. These results add to the notion that HOMER1 and its circular forms could be playing a female-specific role in the pathogenesis of AD.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Profile of TREM2-derived circRNA and mRNA variants in the entorhinal cortex of Alzheimer's disease patients
    (MDPI, 2022) Urdánoz Casado, Amaya; Sánchez Ruiz de Gordoa, Javier; Robles, Maitane; Roldán, Miren; Zelaya Huerta, María Victoria; Blanco Luquin, Idoia; Mendióroz Iriarte, Maite; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
    Genetic variants in TREM2, a microglia-related gene, are well-known risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, we report that TREM2 originates from circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of non-coding RNAs characterized by a covalent and stable closed-loop structure. First, divergent primers were designed to amplify circRNAs by RT-PCR, which were further assessed by Sanger sequencing. Then, additional primer sets were used to confirm back-splicing junctions. In addition, HMC3 cells were used to assess the microglial expression of circTREM2s. Three candidate circTREM2s were identified in control and AD human entorhinal samples. One of the circRNAs, circTREM2_1, was consistently amplified by all divergent primer sets in control and AD entorhinal cortex samples as well as in HMC3 cells. In AD cases, a moderate negative correlation (r = −0.434) was found between the global average area of Aβ deposits in the entorhinal cortex and circTREM2_1 expression level. In addition, by bioinformatics tools, a total of 16 miRNAs were predicted to join with circTREM2s. Finally, TREM2 mRNA corresponding to four isoforms was profiled by RTqPCR. TREM2 mRNA levels were found elevated in entorhinal samples of AD patients with low or intermediate ABC scores compared to controls. To sum up, a novel circRNA derived from the TREM2 gene, circTREM2_1, has been identified in the human entorhinal cortex and TREM2 mRNA expression has been detected to increase in AD compared to controls. Unraveling the molecular genetics of the TREM2 gene may help to better know the innate immune response in AD.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Early epigenetic changes of Alzheimer's disease in the human hippocampus
    (2020) Blanco Luquin, Idoia; Acha Santamaría, Blanca; Urdánoz Casado, Amaya; Sánchez Ruiz de Gordoa, Javier; Vicuña-Urriza, Janire; Roldán, Miren; Labarga Gutiérrez, Alberto; Zelaya Huerta, María Victoria; Cabello, Carolina; Méndez López, Iván; Mendióroz Iriarte, Maite; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak; Sociología y Trabajo Social; Soziologia eta Gizarte Lana; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
    The discovery of new biomarkers would be very valuable to improve the detection of early Alzheimer's disease (AD). DNA methylation marks may serve as epigenetic biomarkers of early AD. Here we identified epigenetic marks that are present in the human hippocampus from the earliest stages of AD. A previous methylome dataset of the human AD hippocampus was used to select a set of eight differentially methylated positions (DMPs) since early AD stages. Next, bisulphite pyrosequencing was performed in an expanded homogeneous cohort of 18 pure controls and 35 hippocampal samples with neuropathological changes of pure AD. Correlation between DNA methylation levels in DMPs and phospho-tau protein burden assessed by immunohistochemistry in the hippocampus was also determined. We found four DMPs showing higher levels of DNA methylation at early AD stages compared to controls, involving ELOVL2, GIT1/TP53I13 and the histone gene locus at chromosome 6. DNA methylation levels assessed by bisulphite pyrosequencing correlated with phospho-tau protein burden for ELOVL2 and HIST1H3E/HIST1H3 F genes. In this discovery study, a set of four epigenetic marks of early AD stages have been identified in the human hippocampus. It would be worth studying in-depth the specific pathways related to these epigenetic marks. These early alterations in DNA methylation in the AD hippocampus could be regarded as candidate biomarkers to be explored in future translational studies.