Analysis of the impact of cellular miRNA signatures on the profiles of circulating miRNA biomarkers (variability data)

Circulating miRNAs are an emerging class of biomarkers correlating their specific expression patterns to disease states. A considerable proportion of hematopoietically-derived miRNAs are present in plasma with the ability to confound the signature of true circulating miRNA species. We use microarray analysis to catalogue a list of 313 haemotopoetic miRNAs and analyze expression profiles of cell-free miRNAs in individual plasma fractions after calibraiting for cellular miRNA signals. Comprehensive global maps of bona fide circulating miRNA species are presented, and inter-individual varibility and gender-specific expession is explored in populations of healthy individuals. Supernatant 1 (S1) fractions from 8 male and 10 female individuals.