Fig. 1
From: Milk miRNAs: simple nutrients or systemic functional regulators?
Illustration of the nutritional hypothesis (a) and the functional hypothesis (b) for the fate of milk-derived miRNAs. The nutritional hypothesis claims that milk miRNAs are degraded in the intestinal lumen and only provide nucleotides that serve local nutritional requirements for intestinal growth or the growth of other organs via the bloodstream. According to the functional hypothesis, milk-derived miRNAs are absorbed into the bloodstream via endocytosis of exosomes, other milk microvesicles or the direct transfer of milk cells, and exert distant gene regulatory functions. MC: Milk cell; MEC: mammary epithelial cell; MFG: Milk fat globule