Profiling of Circulating Serum MicroRNAs in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder using Stem-loop qRT-PCR Assay

Abstract

Background: Development of biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has still remained a challenge to date. Recently, alterations of the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in peripheral blood, serum and post-mortem brain tissue have been linked to ASD. miRNAs are known to be secreted by various cell types and can mediate transmission of information into recipient cells and to modulate their physiological functions. On this basis it is assumed that circulating miRNAs could be useful biomarkers for the diagnosis or prognosis of pathological conditions.

Keywords

• autism spectrum disorder
• miRNAs
• stem-loop qRT-PCR
• serum