Plasma-derived miRNAs as fluid biomarkers to differentiate Alzheimer’s and Frontotemporal Dementia

Non-coding RNAs play a central role in both conditions, hence the study of miRNAs isolated from plasma-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) could increase the understanding of the pathological molecular background and support the identification of new diagnostic tools. The main aim of this work was to identify miRNAs deregulated in both disorders but presenting different expression patterns.

A selection of the identified deregulated miRNAs was further studied with the purpose of identifying their mRNA targets and understanding their potential pathological involvement. A total of 340 and 291 differentially expressed miRNAs were found in FTD and AD, respectively. Among the commonly deregulated miRNAs with opposite expression trends between the two conditions, miR-638 emerged as a potentially interesting candidate, showing consistent patterns across our experimental analyses.