Abstract
BackgroundMicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of highly conserved small non-coding RNA molecules, are known to play essential roles in central nervous system (CNS) by causing post-transcriptional gene silencing. There is much evidence that miRNAs have specific temporal and spatial expression patterns in the mammal brain, but little is known about the role of the region specificity for the gene regulatory networks of the brain. This study represents the first attempt to perform a profiling analysis of the differential expression of miRNAs between hippocampus and the Marginal division (MrD) of the neostriatum in the rat brain.ResultsMicroarray was used to detect the expression of 357 miRNAs in hippocampus and the MrD from three rats. A short-list of the most dysregulated 30 miRNAs per rat was generated for data analysis, and the miRNAs that were represented in two or three short-lists were then further analyzed. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed to validate the aberrantly expressed miRNAs obtained from the miRNA microarray analysis. A family of 11 miRNAs demonstrated differential expression between the MrD and hippocampus in more than one rat. Amongst these, miR-383 was differentially expressed in all three rats and up-regulated to the largest degree in rat one, and the ten other miRNAs, let-7d*, miR-181b, miR-187, miR-195, miR-214, miR-382, miR-411, miR-466b, miR-592 and miR-1224 were differentially expressed in at least two rats. Of these ten, besides miR-382 and miR-411 which were up-regulated in one rat and down-regulated in another, the other eight miRNAs retained a uniform direction of regulation (up-regulation or down-regulation) between different specimens. When further examined by RT-PCR, the aberrantly expressed miRNAs, except miR-383 and let-7d*, demonstrated differential expression that significantly correlated with the microarray findings.ConclusionThis study reported that the miRNA expression patterns in MrD was distinct from that of Hip, suggesting the role of miRNAs in the learning and memory function of the MrD probably different from hippocampus.
Highlights
MicroRNAs, a class of highly conserved small non-coding RNA molecules, are known to play essential roles in central nervous system (CNS) by causing post-transcriptional gene silencing
Results miRNA array data The miRNA expression profiles derived from different brain tissues were analyzed using oligo-microarray
MiRNA differential expression between Hip and Marginal division (MrD) To investigate the differential expression of miRNAs, array-based miRNA profiling of rat Hip and the MrD was performed
Summary
MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of highly conserved small non-coding RNA molecules, are known to play essential roles in central nervous system (CNS) by causing post-transcriptional gene silencing. Recent evidence points to a widespread role for neural miRNAs at various stages of synaptic development, including dendritogenesis, synapse formation and synapse maturation [11]. The proposed roles of miRNAs in the vertebrate CNS may include neurogenesis [12], regulation of morphogenesis [13], dendrite formation [14], and silencing of non-neural mRNAs [15]. A number of studies indicated that miRNAs might contribute to the control of synapse function and plasticity in the adult [17]. All of these functions of miRNAs indicated that it plays an important role in mediating regulation of mRNA expression and function by changes in neuronal activity. MiRNAs were found as biomarkers for cancer and other disorders [19], and are involved in the etiology of several brain disorders, including Parkinson’s disease [20], Alzheimer’s disease [21], and depression [22]
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