Short Lecture “MicroRNA as a new active substance isolated from Viscum album L.”

Recently, the therapeutic potential of plant derived miRNAs has attracted great attention. MicroRNA (miRNA) has been considered as new bioactive ingredients in medicinal plants [1]. Through screening abundant miRNAs in European mistletoe, val-miR218 showed high potential of anti-cancer effects against osteosarcoma. To clarify its molecular mechanism of action, we sequenced val-miR218 associated RNAs as well as its down-regulated RNAs. As a result, a total of 61 genes were considered as the direct targets of val-miR218. The mRNA and protein expression of the targets was confirmed by RT-qPCR and western blot. The interaction between the val-miR218 and miRNA recognition elements (MREs) was validated by dual-luciferase assay. Interestingly, these targets were related to basic cell functions such as cell cycle, DNA replication and cell morphology, suggesting that val-miR218 significantly inhibit cell growth, and arrest osteosarcoma cells in G0/G1 phase through influencing basic cell activities. Mistletoe extracellular vesicles offered val-miR218 effective protection and mediated the uptake of val-miR281 by human cells. Moreover, tests of the efficacy of val-miR218 in vivo showing reduction of tumor volume, confirmed the therapeutic potential.

Publication History

Article published online:
12 December 2022

• Reference

• 1 Xie W, Adolf J, Melzig MF. Identification of Viscum album L. miRNAs and prediction of their medicinal values. PLoS One 2017; 12: e0187776