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A new biomarker for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in asymptomatic stages identified
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A study has identified a new biomarker for Alzheimer's disease in the asymptomatic stages of the disease. This molecule is miR-519a-3p, a microRNA directly associated with the expression of the cellular prion protein (PrPC), which is disrupted in people suffering from certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
The study, conducted by the Molecular and Cellular Neurobiotechnology Group of the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the University of Barcelona, was published in the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease.
The search for stable and easily detectable biomarkers such as microRNA in biofluids offers hope for detecting Alzheimer's disease in its early, asymptomatic stages. Early detection could significantly improve diagnosis and treatment of the disease, which affects more than 35 million people worldwide.
First Link Between miR-519a-3p and PrPC in Alzheimer's Disease The expression of some microRNAs is known to be altered in patients with Alzheimer's disease. However, this is the first time that this microRNA has been specifically linked to decreased production of the cellular prion protein as the disease progresses.
"Currently, tests to diagnose Alzheimer's disease are usually performed after the onset of symptoms, when cognitive impairment is already present. We believe that the detection of this microRNA could help establish additional criteria for a more accurate diagnosis in the early stages of the disease," explains IBEC lead researcher José Antonio del Río, professor in the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Neurosciences at the University of Barcelona (UB) and co-leader of the study.
The study also conducts a comparative analysis of the presence of the biomarker in samples from other neurodegenerative diseases.
"If our goal is to use miR-519a-3p as a biomarker to detect Alzheimer's dementia in hypothetically healthy individuals, we need to make sure that its levels are not altered in other neurodegenerative diseases. In our study, we compared the levels of this biomarker in samples from other tauopathies and Parkinson's disease, confirming that miR-519a-3p changes are specific to Alzheimer's disease," said IBEC senior researcher Rosalina Gavin, associate professor at UB and co-leader of the study.
Dayaneta Jacome, a researcher in del Rio’s group and first author of the study, notes that the team is making progress. The next step is to validate miR-519a-3p as a biomarker in blood samples from different patient cohorts, with a view to using it in clinical diagnostics of Alzheimer’s disease in peripheral samples.
The researchers are members of the Centre for Networked Biomedical Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, CIBERNED.
MicroRNAs: Genetic Silencers The amount of cellular prion protein changes throughout the course of Alzheimer's disease, with levels higher in the early stages of the disease and decreasing as the disease progresses. Although the mechanism responsible for these changes is not known in detail, certain microRNAs have been observed to bind to a specific region of the PRNP gene that controls PrPC expression, reducing it.
For this reason, and based on comparisons of previous studies and computational analyses in various genomic databases, the researchers selected the miR-519a-3p microRNA for their study.