Research Projects

Rice tRFs, small non-coding RNAs, are found in all species and have been cataloged by plant tRFdb. A total of 168 tRFs are annotated for rice, which interacts with Argonaute proteins and functions as miRNAs in gene silencing in humans and Arabidopsis. Plant-derived miRNAs can regulate mammalian gene expressions and are being explored in cancer therapeutics. In silico analysis of rice tRFs revealed that tRNA Cys ACA, tRNA Leu AAG, tRNA SerGCT, tRNA ValGAC, tRNA MetCAT, and tRNA GlyCCC harbored tRFs with cognate human miRNA sequences. The dissimilarity ranged from 1-3 nt, suggesting that these tRFs could function as cognate human miRNA mimics. No other study has identified or documented the relevance of these rice tRF-derived human miRNA sequences. The aim is to explore if tRNA Cys ACA and tRNALeu AAG can be exploited as human miRNA mimics for cross-kingdom ncRNA therapeutics. Exosome-like edible nanovesicles (ELNs) are plant-derived membrane-bound particles similar to human exosomes and are non-toxic, less immunogenic, and stable through gastro-intestinal digestion. Rice ELN-derived tRF/miRNAs may be a non-toxic, bioavailable, and cost-effective therapeutic option to treat cancer. The proposal aims to isolate and characterize ELNs from different varieties of rice, confirm the presence of tRNAs, tRFs/miRNAs within ELNs, and use cancer cell lines derived from upper and lower gastro-intestinal tracts to elucidate if cross-kingdom regulation of cancer-specific targets by rice ELN-derived tRF/miRNAs can be achieved, demonstrating pro-apoptotic or anti-tumor properties.