**5.1 MIR168a of plants first evidence of cross-kingdom regulation**

The paradigm that miRNAs originated exclusively for endogenous assimilation was changed in 2012 by Zhang et al. [12], when the first evidence of cross-kingdom interactions was demonstrated by sequencing serum from men and women in China and finding present human and other animal miRNAs from dietary plant miRNAs, identifying MIR168a from *Oriza sativa* (rice), analyzed through bioinformatics, finding as a regulatory target the gene encoding for the low-density lipoprotein receptor adapter protein 1 (LDLRAP1). Confirming their various hypotheses on the regulation of the LDLRAP1 gene, predicted target of exogenous MIR168a, through an in vivo assay where serum and tissues were collected from mice previously fed with rice and in vitro transfecting HepG2 cells with MIR168a MVs, finding a decrease in the levels of the protein in vitro and in vivo, thus interfering with the cholesterol transport mechanism.
