Future of Food: Journal on Food

Exogenous extracellular vesicles and microRNAs cargo can be considered micronutrients?

Erika Cione
University of Calabria, Edificio Polifunzionale
Roberto Cannataro

It is well recognized that diet components are important genomic regulators even if RNA transcripts as messenger RNAs (mRNAs) represent less than 2% of the whole genome. In the old-fashioned understanding of genetics, mRNAs are encoded to synthesize a specific protein. Nevertheless, this representation has substantially increased in complexity with the discovery of non-coding RNAs in which microRNAs (miRNAs) gained significant attention in the past 15 years - because its discovery was awarded by the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2006 to Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello. MiRNAs are small (18 to 25 nucleotides-long), endogenous non-coding RNA-nucleotide evolutionary conserved, shown to modulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level through the binding to the complementary sequences of their target mRNAs at the 3' untranslated regions (3' UTRs) (1,2). Based on the interactions between the 3? UTR of mRNAs, miRNAs can control numerous genes' expression levels. MiRNAs are secreted in lipid bilayer-delimited nanoparticles called extracellular vesicles (EVs), along with proteins and other biomolecules with no replication ability. EVs include microvesicles, apoptotic bodies, and exosomes (Exo), a unique subpopulation of nanosized, spherical membrane vesicles with sizes between 30 and 150 nm. Therefore, EVs and Exo represent a new paradigm in cell biology and medicine, with the idea that the available content may be directly delivered to cells (3).

 

Keywords : .

Myanmar High School Students’ Perceptions of College and International Readiness in Western Society

Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
International students are more likely to experience mental health issues and increased stress. Mental health is often surrounded by negative societal stigmas that act as barriers to seeking support and tend to lead to greater mental health concerns. International students tend to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers rather than seeking out counseling services. However, this study shows that LGBTQIA+ international students were less likely to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers due to fear of their sexual orientation being discovered and their families finding out about their identity. This study examines how LGBTQIA+ international students talk about their experiences on and off campus in relations to their socioemotional well-being. Specifically, this study sought to better understand the complexities of LGBTQIA+ students’ identities, and the challenges they faced in terms of their socioemotional well-being. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Keywords : international students, socioemotional well-being, mental health, identity development, intersectionality, LGBTQIA