Blanca M. Herrera

Blanca My current work focuses on investigating the role of microRNAs (miRNA) in the pathology of Type-2-Diabetes (T2D) and obesity. MiRNAs are short non-coding RNA sequences which bind to mRNA molecules of target genes and regulate their translation into protein by labeling mRNA for destruction or by obstructing access to translational machinery. The proposed miRNA-mRNA binding mechanism occurs via sequence alignment of ~6 nucletides on the miRNA, the “seed” sequence, to the 3’ region of the target mRNA. Each miRNA can potentially have up to several hundred mRNA targets. Similarly to other genes, miRNAs have specific spatiotemporal expression patterns and have been shown to be involved in cell differentiation and metabolic processes.

We are investigating differences in expression of miRNAs in insulin target tissues (liver, muscle and adipose) between diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. Additionally, using the results from the British genome wide association study, we are investigating whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) located in predicted miRNA target regions are associated with susceptibility to T2D.

Publications

2009

Herrera BM., Lockstone HE, Taylor JM, Ria M, Barrett A, Collins S, Kaisaki PJ, Argoud K, Fernandez C, Travers ME, Grew JP, Randall JC, Gloyn AL, Gauguier D, McCarthy MI and Lindgren CM. MicroRNA-125a is overexpressed in insulin target tissues in a spontaneous rat model of Type 2 Diabetes, Submitted for publication 2009.

Herrera BM., Lockstone HE, Taylor JM, Barrett A, Kaisaki PJ, Argoud K, Fernandez C, Ragouissis I, Camps C. Gloyn AL, Gauguier D, McCarthy MI and Lindgren CM. Global microRNA expression profiles in insulin target tissues in a spontaneous rat model of Type 2 Diabetes, Submitted for publication 2009.

Ramagopalan SV, Maugeri NJ, Handunnetthi L, Lincoln MR, Orton SM, Dyment DA, Deluca GC, Herrera BM, Chao MJ, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC, Knight JC. Expression of the multiple sclerosis-associated MHC class II Allele HLA-DRB1*1501 is regulated by vitamin D. PLoS Genet. 2009 Feb;5(2):e1000369. Epub 2009 Feb 6. PMID: 19197344

Chao MJ, Ramagopalan SV, Herrera BM, Lincoln MR, Dyment DA, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC. Epigenetics in multiple sclerosis susceptibility: difference in transgenerational risk localizes to the major histocompatibility complex. Hum Mol Genet. 2009 Jan 15;18(2):261-6. PMID: 19098025

2008

Herrera BM, Ramagopalan SV, Lincoln MR, Orton SM, Chao MJ, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC.Parent-of-origin effects in MS: observations from avuncular pairs. Neurology. 2008 Sep 9;71(11):799-803. Epub 2008 May 14. PMID: 18480463

2007

Ramagopalan SV, Herrera BM, Bell JT, Dyment DA, Deluca GC, Lincoln MR, Orton SM, Chao MJ, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC.Parental transmission of HLA-DRB1*15 in multiple sclerosis. Hum Genet. 2008 Jan;122(6):661-3. Epub 2007 Oct 31. PMID: 17972102

Herrera BM, Cader MZ, Dyment DA, Bell JT, Deluca GC, Willer CJ, Lincoln MR, Ramagopalan SV, Chao M, Orton SM, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC. Multiple sclerosis susceptibility and the X chromosome. Mult Scler. 2007 Aug;13(7):856-64. PMID: 17881398

Herrera BM, Ramagopalan SV, Orton S, Chao MJ, Yee IM, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC. Parental transmission of MS in a population-based Canadian cohort. Neurology. 2007 Sep 18;69(12):1208-12. Epub 2007 Jun 27. PMID: 17596583

2006

Orton SM, Herrera BM, Yee IM, Valdar W, Ramagopalan SV, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC. Sex ratio of multiple sclerosis in Canada: a longitudinal study. Canadian Collaborative Study Group. Lancet Neurol. 2006 Nov;5(11):932-6. PMID: 17052660

Herrera BM, Cader MZ, Dyment DA, Bell JT, Ramagopalan SV, Lincoln MR, Orton S, Chao MJ, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC. Follow-up investigation of 12 proposed linkage regions in multiple sclerosis. Genes Immun. 2006 Jul;7(5):366-71. Epub 2006 Jun 1. PMID: 16738670

2005

Dyment DA, Herrera BM, Cader MZ, Willer CJ, Lincoln MR, Sadovnick AD, Risch N, Ebers GC. Complex interactions among MHC haplotypes in multiple sclerosis: susceptibility and resistance. Hum Mol Genet. 2005 Jul 15;14(14):2019-26. Epub 2005 Jun 1.
PMID: 15930013

2003

Herrera BM, Ebers GC. Progress in deciphering the genetics of multiple sclerosis. Curr Opin Neurol. 2003 Jun;16(3):253-8. Review. PMID: 12858059