Milking miRNAs for all their worth

Authors: HIRSCHI, KENDAL - CHILDREN'S NUTRITION RESEARCH CENTER (CNRC)

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/8/2021
Publication Date: 1/22/2022
Citation: Hirschi, K.D. 2022. Milking miRNAs for all their worth. Journal of Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxab326.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxab326

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Mother's milk is the original, and unparalleled, superfood. It's loaded with nutrients and other benefits for babies' health. Decades of research have associated breastfeeding with lower risks of infection, obesity, and diabetes in infants. Breast milk is a complex assortment of bioactive molecules, and the role of many of these components remains unclear. In 2010, scientists found that breast milk contains microRNAs (miRNAs); short RNAs approximately 22 bases long. To explain their presence, the nutrition community has come up with two theories. The first, known as the nutrition hypothesis, states that miRNAs are bundles of nutrients-similar to one of breast milk's major proteins, serum albumin-that are broken down in the gut. The second, termed the functional hypothesis, states the miRNAs in breast milk function like those within a cell, and have a regulatory role; they survive digestion and impact the consuming infant's gene expression.